Oglala Lakota County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Oglala Lakota County: 1.
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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jun 4, 1999Tornado$3.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This was the first of two tornadoes that swept through the town of Oglala. Spotters and law enforcement reported that the tornado went up and down several times. It remained on the ground just prior to hitting Oglala and then dissipated as it moved to the northeast. There was one fatality with 54 people receiving medical care for injuries. A church and three of its surrounding buildings were destroyed, 22 mobile homes destroyed, 30 to 50 buildings damaged and a lot of hail damage to roofs and vehicles.

2. Jun 2, 2026Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms repeatedly developed over the same areas on June 2, 2026 leading to flash flooding. Runoff from an estimated 5 to 7 inches of rain caused considerable damage in Oglala. Seven buildings were destroyed, 24 buildings had major damage, and 10 other structures reported minor damager. Highway 18 and BIA 41 were also inundated.

3. Jun 2, 2026Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorms repeatedly developed over the same areas on June 2, 2026 leading to flash flooding, that turned into pluvial flooding. Runoff from an estimated 5 to 7 inches of rain caused considerable damage in Oglala. Seven buildings were destroyed, 24 buildings had major damage, and 10 other structures reported minor damager. Highway 18 and BIA 41 were also inundated.

4. Nov 5, 2008Blizzard, Oglala Lakota$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An intense fall storm produced blizzard conditions across the South Dakota plains for over 24 hours. Precipitation started as rain during the day and changed to heavy, wet snow during the evening of the 5th. Snow and blowing snow continued through much of the 6th with visibility near zero much of the time. Snowfall amounts were six to 18 inches with drifts 12 feet high. More than two thousand power poles were downed, causing widespread power outages that affected thousands of residents. Some locations did not have power for over a week, especially across the Pine Ridge Reservation. Most roads across the area, including Interstate 90, were closed for 24 hours or longer. Many…

5. Mar 17, 2019Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Moderate to major flooding occurred along the White River in Oglala Lakota County. Runoff from melting snow into the White River caused river ice to break up and jam. Additional flooding also occurred along White Clay Creek upstream and downstream from Oglala Dam due to the snowmelt.

6. Mar 23, 2009Blizzard, Oglala Lakota$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful spring storm brought rain, snow, and very strong winds to western South Dakota. Precipitation started as rain, then changed to snow, and blizzard conditions developed. The heaviest snow fell over the northern Black Hills, where 18 to 48 inches of snow was measured. Ten to 20 inches of snow fell across far northwestern South Dakota, with drifts as high as ten feet. Most other locations received at least six inches of snow. Sustained winds of 30 to 55 mph, with gusts over 80 mph, were reported. Interstate 90 and other highways were closed for more than 24 hours. Some power outages were reported, mainly across the northern Black Hills and northwestern South Dakota. Tens of…

7. Aug 30, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong wind gusts knocked down a total of 80 transmission and distribution power poles from 1.5 miles west to two miles east of the Wolf Creek School. The school roof and some mobile homes were also damaged.

8. Jul 21, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two mobile homes were rolled and completely destroyed, with all their contents scattered by the wind. A stick-built house lost a large portion of its roof. Twelve transformer poles were broken.

9. Aug 17, 2014Hail$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail, with a few hailstones baseball to softball size, caused property damage in Oglala.

10. Aug 6, 2004Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A tornado touched down in the town of Batesland. It tore the roof off a house, blew down a grain bin, damaged another roof and the school gymnasium.

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

111°F2 times, most recently Jul 25, 2026

All-time low

−36°FDec 22, 2022

Warmest night

77°FJul 26, 2026

Coldest day

−15°FJan 13, 2024

Wettest day

3.88 inJun 17, 2003

Hottest year

1999mean 50.5°F

Coldest year

2014mean 45.6°F

Wettest year

201422.65 in

Driest year

20067.82 in

Station Pine Ridge Airport (USW00094039), 3,287 ft elevation, 11.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1997 to October 28, 2026; 96.8% 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.

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 USW00094039.
• 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.
• 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 November 1, 2026.