Counties in the Worst Drought in South Dakota
The top 25 of 66 South Dakota counties on GIS Map, ranked by the Drought Severity and Coverage Index (0-500), where 500 means the entire county is in exceptional drought.
| # | County | Drought Severity Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Potter County | 300.0 |
| 2 | Dewey County | 252.9 |
| 3 | Harding County | 247.8 |
| 4 | Meade County | 241.1 |
| 5 | Sully County | 235.7 |
| 6 | Lawrence County | 232.9 |
| 7 | Butte County | 229.0 |
| 8 | Roberts County | 214.1 |
| 9 | Pennington County | 203.9 |
| 10 | Custer County | 200.0 |
| 11 | Fall River County | 200.0 |
| 12 | Lake County | 200.0 |
| 13 | McCook County | 200.0 |
| 14 | Moody County | 200.0 |
| 15 | Oglala Lakota County | 200.0 |
| 16 | Yankton County | 200.0 |
| 17 | Ziebach County | 200.0 |
| 18 | Hanson County | 199.6 |
| 19 | Haakon County | 198.3 |
| 20 | Faulk County | 196.1 |
| 21 | Minnehaha County | 196.0 |
| 22 | Hutchinson County | 194.7 |
| 23 | Codington County | 194.2 |
| 24 | Corson County | 189.0 |
| 25 | Douglas County | 187.7 |
Source: U.S. Drought Monitor (13 October 2026). All counties with data are ranked. Estimates carry margins of error.
Citing this page: GIS Map, “Counties in the Worst Drought in South Dakota”, https://gismap.land/rankings/south-dakota/worst-drought-counties. Figures from U.S. Drought Monitor (13 October 2026).
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