Counties with the most tornadoes in South Dakota

It's been a busy year for tornadoes in the U.S. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as many as 1,155 twisters have touched down across the country since the start of the year, above the average for this time of year.

A single day can drive up tornado counts. March 31, 2023, accounted for 163 tornadoes across the Midwest and South. Tornado activity usually peaks in the spring and early summer, and the pace of tornadoes usually slows around late summer. A smaller-scale second tornado season emerges in the fall, mostly in the Gulf Coast states.

Stacker used data from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information to find the counties in South Dakota that have experienced the most tornadoes since 2000. While data is available going back to 1950, tornado tracking by the National Weather Service became more robust and accurate in the 1990s. Since counties can vary in size, they are ranked by the number of tornadoes per 100 square miles. Counties that experienced less than five tornadoes are not included.

The counties that encounter the most tornadoes aren't all in the infamous Tornado Alley. When adjusted for county area, the top 10 counties that experienced the most tornadoes since 2000 are from nine different states, all in the Southeast with the exception of Cleveland County, Oklahoma.

Research has shown that Tornado Alley is shifting due to warming temperatures fueled by climate change. In the future, the Southeast could become the region that receives the bulk of the country's tornadoes. It's a concerning trend as the South is more populated than the Great Plains and has a higher concentration of mobile homes than other parts of the country, making the storms potentially deadlier and costlier.

As of August 2023, 75 people have died from tornadoes this year, and over 60% of those deaths occurred in mobile homes.

The best way to stay protected during tornadoes is to have multiple ways of receiving storm updates including social media, radio, television, and sirens, and to immediately seek shelter in a basement or interior room without windows when a tornado watch escalates to a warning.

Read on to see which counties experience the most tornadoes in South Dakota.

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#50. Custer County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 6 (0.39 per 100 square miles)
- #2,003 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#49. Oglala Lakota County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 9 (0.43 per 100 square miles)
- #1,993 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#48. Dewey County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 10 (0.43 per 100 square miles)
- #1,991 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#47. Fall River County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 8 (0.46 per 100 square miles)
- #1,987 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#46. Lyman County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 8 (0.49 per 100 square miles)
- #1,981 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#45. Todd County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 7 (0.50 per 100 square miles)
- #1,972 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#44. Potter County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 5 (0.58 per 100 square miles)
- #1,952 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#43. Lawrence County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 5 (0.62 per 100 square miles)
- #1,936 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#42. Aurora County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 5 (0.71 per 100 square miles)
- #1,915 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#41. Tripp County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 12 (0.74 per 100 square miles)
- #1,901 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#40. Ziebach County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 15 (0.76 per 100 square miles)
- #1,891 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#39. Spink County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 12 (0.80 per 100 square miles)
- #1,875 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#38. Faulk County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 8 (0.81 per 100 square miles)
- #1,869 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#37. Brookings County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 7 (0.88 per 100 square miles)
- #1,838 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#36. Gregory County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 9 (0.89 per 100 square miles)
- #1,836 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#35. Charles Mix County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 10 (0.91 per 100 square miles)
- #1,819 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#34. Brule County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 8 (0.98 per 100 square miles)
- #1,788 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#33. Roberts County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 11 (1.00 per 100 square miles)
- #1,775 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#32. Bennett County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 12 (1.01 per 100 square miles)
- #1,769 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#31. Codington County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 7 (1.02 per 100 square miles)
- #1,768 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#30. Grant County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 7 (1.03 per 100 square miles)
- #1,764 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1

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#29. Hyde County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 9 (1.05 per 100 square miles)
- #1,758 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#28. McPherson County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 12 (1.06 per 100 square miles)
- #1,749 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#27. Day County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 11 (1.07 per 100 square miles)
- #1,738 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#26. Edmunds County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 13 (1.15 per 100 square miles)
- #1,676 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#25. Marshall County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 10 (1.19 per 100 square miles)
- #1,650 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#24. Bon Homme County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 7 (1.24 per 100 square miles)
- #1,600 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#23. Beadle County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 16 (1.27 per 100 square miles)
- #1,568 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#22. Jerauld County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 7 (1.33 per 100 square miles)
- #1,535 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#21. Brown County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 23 (1.34 per 100 square miles)
- #1,521 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#20. Hamlin County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 7 (1.38 per 100 square miles)
- #1,496 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#19. Hand County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 20 (1.39 per 100 square miles)
- #1,488 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#18. Lake County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 8 (1.42 per 100 square miles)
- #1,466 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#17. Clark County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 14 (1.46 per 100 square miles)
- #1,442 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#16. Yankton County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 8 (1.54 per 100 square miles)
- #1,397 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#15. Walworth County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 11 (1.55 per 100 square miles)
- #1,392 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#14. Sanborn County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 9 (1.58 per 100 square miles)
- #1,368 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#13. Hutchinson County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 13 (1.60 per 100 square miles)
- #1,355 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#12. Douglas County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 7 (1.62 per 100 square miles)
- #1,336 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#11. Union County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 8 (1.74 per 100 square miles)
- #1,255 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#10. McCook County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 10 (1.74 per 100 square miles)
- #1,251 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#9. Davison County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 8 (1.84 per 100 square miles)
- #1,176 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#8. Hanson County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 8 (1.84 per 100 square miles)
- #1,170 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#7. Minnehaha County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 19 (2.35 per 100 square miles)
- #823 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#6. Deuel County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 15 (2.41 per 100 square miles)
- #782 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 1

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#5. Miner County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 15 (2.63 per 100 square miles)
- #661 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#4. Kingsbury County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 24 (2.88 per 100 square miles)
- #556 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#3. Clay County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 13 (3.15 per 100 square miles)
- #436 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#2. Turner County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 22 (3.57 per 100 square miles)
- #308 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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#1. Lincoln County

- Tornadoes since 2000: 34 (5.89 per 100 square miles)
- #55 nationally
- Tornadoes this year, as of May 31: 0

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