McPherson County tornado history

27 tornadoes touched McPherson County, South Dakota between 1950 and 2025 — about 0.4 a year. The strongest was rated F3 (Jul 31, 1966). Tornadoes here killed 2 and injured 5 people.

27tornadoes since 1950

F3strongest rating

2killed · 5 injured

49.7 milongest path · 1961

(E)F0(E)F1(E)F2(E)F3(E)F4(E)F5· dots = start point only

By rating

(E)F013

(E)F16

(E)F25

(E)F32

(E)F40

(E)F50

unrated1

By month

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: July.

By decade

’50’60’70’80’90’00’10’20

Strongest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured	Killed
Jul 31, 1966	F3	26.4 mi	280 yd	4	2
Aug 24, 2006	F3	14 mi	300 yd	1	0
Jun 28, 1961	F2	49.7 mi	10 yd	0	0
May 22, 2010	EF2	18.6 mi	200 yd	0	0
Jul 6, 1962	F2	3 mi	550 yd	0	0
Jul 4, 2020	EF2	2.7 mi	150 yd	0	0
Sep 7, 1961	F2	0.1 mi	10 yd	0	0
Jun 23, 2002	F1	5 mi	500 yd	0	0
Aug 10, 1963	F1	2.3 mi	160 yd	0	0
Sep 8, 1991	F1	0.5 mi	33 yd	0	0
Jul 1, 1966	F1	0.1 mi	27 yd	0	0
Jul 10, 1977	F1	0.1 mi	10 yd	0	0

Most recent tornadoes

Date	Rating	Path	Width	Injured
Aug 5, 2025	unrated	—	5 yd	0
Jul 4, 2020	EF2	2.7 mi	150 yd	0
Jul 25, 2015	EF0	0.1 mi	10 yd	0
Jul 25, 2015	EF0	0.2 mi	20 yd	0
Sep 30, 2014	EF0	0.3 mi	10 yd	0
May 22, 2010	EF2	18.6 mi	200 yd	0
Aug 8, 2007	EF0	0.2 mi	10 yd	0
Aug 24, 2006	F3	14 mi	300 yd	1
Aug 9, 2006	F0	0.3 mi	10 yd	0
Jun 26, 2005	F0	0.2 mi	10 yd	0
Jun 23, 2002	F0	0.2 mi	50 yd	0
Jun 23, 2002	F1	5 mi	500 yd	0

Deadliest: Jul 31, 1966, F3, 2 killed.

Nearby counties

McIntosh County, ND23 Edmunds County, SD31 Campbell County, SD16 Dickey County, ND35 Brown County, SD80 Walworth County, SD30 Logan County, ND19 Faulk County, SD22

Questions

How many tornadoes has McPherson County, South Dakota had?

27 tornadoes touched McPherson County, South Dakota between 1950 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database — about 0.4 per year.

What was the strongest tornado in McPherson County?

The strongest rating recorded was F3 on Jul 31, 1966, with a 26.4-mile path and 2 deaths.

When is tornado season in McPherson County?

Most of its tornadoes happened in July (10 of 27). Tornadoes can occur in any month, so keep alerts on year-round.

Right now: live tornado warnings map · alerts for your location. Dates link to that day’s full storm reports where available (2004 onward).