Tornadoes · United States · South Dakota

1992 tornadoes in South Dakota

41 tornadoes touched down in South Dakota in 1992, 60 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1991 1993 The whole country in 1992

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in South Dakota in 1992

May 15 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 155:05 PM CDTF0Jerauld0.110
May 155:05 PM CDTF0Jerauld0.110
May 155:45 PM CDTF0Sanborn0.110

June 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 39:17 PM CDTF0Brule0.223

June 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 134:52 PM MDTF0Butte7.023

June 15 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 154:15 PM MDTF2Haakon2.050$50,000 to $500,000
June 157:05 PM CDTF0Clark0.213under $50
June 159:50 PM CDTF0Day0.540

June 16 16 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 162:30 PM CDTF2Davison3.073$500 to $5,000
June 162:30 PM CDTF2Davison3.073$500 to $5,000
June 163:23 PM CDTF0Sanborn0.110under $50
June 163:25 PM CDTF2Miner0.5501$5,000 to $50,000
June 163:45 PM CDTF3Miner3.073$500,000 to $5 million
June 164:35 PM CDTF3Kingsbury4.0100$500,000 to $5 million
June 164:37 PM CDTF0Kingsbury0.110
June 165:15 PM CDTF3Buffalo2.0738$5 million to $50 million
June 167:03 PM CDTF0Charles Mix0.320
June 168:10 PM CDTF0Hutchinson0.323$5,000 to $50,000
June 168:30 PM CDTF1McCook0.530$500,000 to $5 million
June 168:30 PM CDTF1McCook0.530$500,000 to $5 million
June 168:30 PM CDTF1Brookings7.030$50,000 to $500,000
June 168:45 PM CDTF1Lake1.030$5,000 to $50,000
June 168:50 PM CDTF0Clay0.523$500 to $5,000
June 169:00 PM CDTF2Minnehaha5.050$500,000 to $5 million

June 22 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 229:14 PM CDTF0Roberts0.323
June 229:20 PM CDTF1Roberts0.530under $50

June 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 286:30 PM CDTF0Minnehaha0.513

June 30 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 307:25 PM CDTF2Hughes0.330$5,000 to $50,000
June 309:00 PM CDTF0Brule0.110
June 309:40 PM CDTF0Beadle0.110

July 7 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 712:20 AM MDTF1Perkins1.530$50,000 to $500,000
July 72:36 PM MDTF0Pennington0.513
July 79:38 PM MDTF0Pennington0.513

July 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 93:06 PM MDTF0Fall River0.310

July 24 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 2410:30 PM MDTF0Harding0.510
July 2410:30 PM MDTF0Harding0.510
July 2410:30 PM MDTF0Harding0.510

August 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 110:00 PM CDTF1Beadle1.0100$500 to $5,000

August 9 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 97:25 PM CDTF0Brookings0.110
August 99:00 PM CDTF2Lake3.0250$500,000 to $5 million
August 910:40 PM CDTF0Turner0.223$5,000 to $50,000

Nearby

Every tornado in South Dakota since 1950Warnings in force in South DakotaThe live radar over South Dakota

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.