How Likely Is a Tornado in Spink County, SD?
Spink County's tornado history, by the numbers
Spink County has recorded 50 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 1.5 years - our High band. Put another way: Spink County sees more tornado activity than 87% of US counties. South Dakota has 66 counties in this dataset; Spink County ranks 5 of them by frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
41 weak and 9 significant tornadoes make up Spink County's 50-track record - none violent. NOAA has never logged an EF4 or EF5 crossing this county.
The dollar figure Spink County's rating leads to
Cost nationally: $2,890-$13,280, about $7,645 typical. South Dakota has no state rebate program confirmed here; FEMA's underlying 75% cost-share exists nationwide, but applying through a state program is what usually makes it real, and none was found for South Dakota this pass.
What a direct hit isn't required for
6,108 people live in Spink County, and a tornado outbreak's power loss usually reaches far more of South Dakota than the tracks themselves touch. A portable battery unit is the faster, no-fuel way to bridge that outage.
What this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Spink County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 1,503 square miles, so a single touch counts the same as one in a county a fraction of that size. Weaker pre-1990s tornadoes are also documented as undercounted in NOAA's own record. Spink County has about 6,108 residents.