Lawrence County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lawrence County: 0.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Mapped by NASA (3).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 1, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$9.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense thunderstorm moved from northeastern Wyoming into the foothills of the northern Black Hills. Massive downburst winds estimated at 90 to 110 mph hit areas from eight miles west of Spearfish to several miles east of Spearfish. Hail to golfball size accompanied the high winds and damaged roofs and siding throughout the region, although the winds caused the worst damage. In town, the intense winds shattered signs, blew over gas station awnings and the wind driven hail caused major damage to automotive and mobile home dealerships. A retirement home had a quarter of its roof torn off and a hotel had to evacuate all its guests as a portion of their roof was blown off. At least…

2. Jul 31, 2011Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail damaged vehicles and buildings in Spearfish.

3. Apr 18, 2006Winter Storm, Northern Foot Hills$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major spring storm moved across the Central and Northern Plains, bringing significant amounts of rain and snow and gusty winds to much of western South Dakota. Snowfall was heaviest across the northern and central Black Hills, as well as far northwest South Dakota, where 1 to 2 feet fell. Favored upslope areas of the northern Black Hills received 2 to 5 feet of snow. Strong northwest winds gusting to 60 mph, created blizzard conditions across Harding, Butte, and Lawrence counties. Drifts to 15 feet high were reported across Harding and Butte counties. Power poles and trees were downed by the combination of heavy wet snow and wind, which resulted in widespread and prolonged power…

4. Apr 18, 2006Winter Storm, Northern Black Hills$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major spring storm moved across the Central and Northern Plains, bringing significant amounts of rain and snow and gusty winds to much of western South Dakota. Snowfall was heaviest across the northern and central Black Hills, as well as far northwest South Dakota, where 1 to 2 feet fell. Favored upslope areas of the northern Black Hills received 2 to 5 feet of snow. Strong northwest winds gusting to 60 mph, created blizzard conditions across Harding, Butte, and Lawrence counties. Drifts to 15 feet high were reported across Harding and Butte counties. Power poles and trees were downed by the combination of heavy wet snow and wind, which resulted in widespread and prolonged power…

5. Jun 29, 2018Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail caused significant property damage in Deadwood. The estimated damage to just public structures is 1.8 million dollars, with total damage in the city much higher.

6. May 17, 2013Hail$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm intensified over Lawrence County during the late evening and moved east through Meade County. The storm produced golf ball size hail in Deadwood, which damaged many vehicles in town.

7. Jun 4, 2008Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused flooding in Whitewood and Spearfish. Water covered Highway 85 south of Interstate 90. Flooding was observed along Whitewood Creek, False Bottom Creek, Bear Butte Creek, Spearfish Creek, and their tributaries.

8. Jun 21, 2003Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Some hail damage to homes and automobiles in Spearfish.

9. Jun 22, 2013Hail$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail damage occurred in Spearfish, including broken skylights in a large discount store.

10. Aug 3, 2010Hail$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Golf ball sized hail damaged automobiles and buildings in Lead.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

110°FJul 6, 1936

All-time low

−33°FFeb 14, 2021

Warmest night

88°FJul 23, 1936

Coldest day

−19°FDec 20, 1990

Wettest day

6.49 inMay 11, 1922

Snowiest day

48.0 inMar 22, 1894

Hottest year

1931mean 52.1°F

Coldest year

1951mean 42.8°F

Wettest year

194642.39 in

Driest year

19369.45 in

Snowiest season

142.4 in1919-20

Station Spearfish (USC00397882), 3,633 ft elevation, 4.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 19, 2026; 92.5% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00397882.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.