Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 31, 1966

Name: Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 31, 1966
Start: 1966-07-31T20:00
End: 1966-07-31T22:00
Location: South Dakota

July 31, 1966 · 4 events in 2 counties and zones

2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 3
Injuries: 7
Property damage: $500,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Brown

When: July 31, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Brown County
Rating: F2
Path length: 2.3 mi
Path width: 253 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 3 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 45.430, -98.520

Tornado, McPherson

When: July 31, 8:00 PM CST
Where: McPherson County
Rating: F3
Path length: 25.1 mi
Path width: 280 yd
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 46.000, -99.420

Thunderstorm Wind, Brown

When: July 31, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Brown County
Coordinates: 45.500, -98.400

Thunderstorm Wind, Brown

When: July 31, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Brown County
Measured: 80 kt (92 mph)
Coordinates: 45.500, -98.400

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Brown	1966-07-31				Direct

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in South Dakota in 1966 Every state in 1966 This day in weather history The tornado archive for South Dakota, 1966

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10112543, 10112544, 10112545, 10112546.