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Spearfish Creek at Spearfish

Highest listed crest 10.54 ftFlood stage 10.0 ft83 crests since 1947

The Spearfish Creek at Spearfish crested above flood stage 3 times among the 83 crests the National Weather Service lists from 1947 to 2024. The highest, 10.54 ft on June 15, 1976, was minor flooding, 0.54 feet above flood stage.

The gauge

Highest listed crest
10.54 ft
June 15, 1976; 3,870 cubic feet per second
Flood stage
10.0 ft
Major flooding from 12.0 ft
Crests at major
0
3 above flood stage
Most recent flood crest
May 8, 1995
10.11 ft, minor flooding
Location
Lawrence County
Near Spearfish (2.3 mi)

Flood stages

The thresholds the National Weather Service uses for this gauge today, and how many listed crests reached each.

Flood categories, Spearfish Creek at Spearfish
Action stage8.06Jun 23, 2023The level at which the NWS or its partners begin to take action
Flood stage (minor)10.03May 8, 1995Minimal or no property damage, but possibly some public threat
Moderate flood stage11.00—Some inundation of structures and roads near the stream
Major flood stage12.00—Extensive inundation of structures and roads

Every listed crest

83 crests from 1947 to 2024. Filled: at or above flood stage. Hover a crest for its date and stage.

Listed crests at the Spearfish Creek at Spearfish, 1947 to 2024 4681012ft Flood stage 10.0 ftMajor 12.0 ft Jun 22, 1947: 6.73 ft, below flood stage; 891 cubic feet per secondJun 24, 1948: 5.89 ft, below flood stage; 417 cubic feet per secondMay 6, 1949: 5.32 ft, below flood stage; 176 cubic feet per secondMay 22, 1950: 5.09 ft, below flood stage; 116 cubic feet per secondJun 17, 1951: 5.37 ft, below flood stage; 215 cubic feet per secondMay 22, 1952: 6.81 ft, below flood stage; 947 cubic feet per secondJun 19, 1953: 5.56 ft, below flood stage; 301 cubic feet per secondMay 30, 1954: 5.15 ft, below flood stage; 147 cubic feet per secondJun 11, 1955: 5.20 ft, below flood stage; 181 cubic feet per secondJul 16, 1956: 5.61 ft, below flood stage; 300 cubic feet per secondJul 14, 1957: 5.22 ft, below flood stage; 158 cubic feet per secondJul 3, 1958: 6.23 ft, below flood stage; 571 cubic feet per secondMay 4, 1959: 4.95 ft, below flood stage; 83 cubic feet per secondMay 10, 1960: 5.02 ft, below flood stage; 86 cubic feet per secondNov 15, 1960: 5.07 ft, below flood stage; 100 cubic feet per secondMay 22, 1962: 6.64 ft, below flood stage; 830 cubic feet per secondApr 29, 1963: 6.47 ft, below flood stage; 662 cubic feet per secondJun 9, 1964: 7.97 ft, below flood stage; 3,040 cubic feet per secondMay 15, 1965: 10.53 ft, minor flooding; 4,240 cubic feet per secondApr 17, 1966: 6.47 ft, below flood stage; 112 cubic feet per secondJun 16, 1967: 7.02 ft, below flood stage; 230 cubic feet per secondJun 25, 1968: 6.60 ft, below flood stage; 106 cubic feet per secondMay 15, 1969: 7.71 ft, below flood stage; 466 cubic feet per secondJun 12, 1970: 8.21 ft, action stage; 884 cubic feet per secondMay 10, 1971: 6.85 ft, below flood stage; 234 cubic feet per secondMay 13, 1972: 6.74 ft, below flood stage; 163 cubic feet per secondMay 31, 1973: 7.09 ft, below flood stage; 287 cubic feet per secondJan 1, 1974: 7.29 ft, below flood stage; 175 cubic feet per secondMay 7, 1975: 5.15 ft, below flood stage; 143 cubic feet per secondJun 15, 1976: 10.54 ft, minor flooding; 3,870 cubic feet per secondMay 2, 1977: 5.65 ft, below flood stage; 167 cubic feet per secondMay 11, 1978: 5.92 ft, below flood stage; 230 cubic feet per secondAug 7, 1979: 5.73 ft, below flood stage; 182 cubic feet per secondApr 21, 1980: 5.35 ft, below flood stage; 85 cubic feet per secondJul 1, 1981: 5.49 ft, below flood stage; 102 cubic feet per secondMay 22, 1982: 8.81 ft, action stage; 2,110 cubic feet per secondMay 8, 1983: 7.66 ft, below flood stage; 500 cubic feet per secondJun 17, 1984: 7.31 ft, below flood stage; 285 cubic feet per secondApr 17, 1985: 6.59 ft, below flood stage; 89 cubic feet per secondApr 28, 1986: 6.66 ft, below flood stage; 104 cubic feet per secondApr 18, 1987: 6.64 ft, below flood stage; 86 cubic feet per secondMay 14, 1988: 6.75 ft, below flood stage; 118 cubic feet per secondMay 9, 1989: 6.66 ft, below flood stage; 106 cubic feet per secondMay 5, 1990: 6.62 ft, below flood stage; 82 cubic feet per secondMay 22, 1991: 6.69 ft, below flood stage; 106 cubic feet per secondApr 29, 1992: 6.57 ft, below flood stage; 70 cubic feet per secondJun 8, 1993: 6.69 ft, below flood stage; 100 cubic feet per secondApr 25, 1994: 6.90 ft, below flood stage; 175 cubic feet per secondMay 8, 1995: 10.11 ft, minor flooding; 1,900 cubic feet per secondMay 30, 1996: 7.19 ft, below flood stage; 204 cubic feet per secondMay 8, 1997: 7.67 ft, below flood stage; 322 cubic feet per secondJun 18, 1998: 8.84 ft, action stage; 899 cubic feet per secondJun 13, 1999: 7.12 ft, below flood stage; 187 cubic feet per secondApr 26, 2000: 6.96 ft, below flood stage; 152 cubic feet per secondApr 7, 2001: 6.79 ft, below flood stage; 117 cubic feet per secondSep 18, 2002: 7.05 ft, below flood stage; 171 cubic feet per secondJun 7, 2003: 7.25 ft, below flood stage; 209 cubic feet per secondJul 5, 2004: 6.73 ft, below flood stage; 75 cubic feet per secondMay 9, 2005: 6.98 ft, below flood stage; 114 cubic feet per secondMay 2, 2006: 7.38 ft, below flood stage; 186 cubic feet per secondJun 2, 2007: 7.91 ft, below flood stage; 855 cubic feet per secondJun 5, 2008: 8.00 ft, action stage; 975 cubic feet per secondDec 22, 2008: 7.84 ft, below flood stageApr 24, 2009: 6.42 ft, below flood stage; 264 cubic feet per secondApr 24, 2010: 6.17 ft, below flood stage; 257 cubic feet per secondMay 23, 2011: 7.20 ft, below flood stage; 630 cubic feet per secondFeb 11, 2012: 6.18 ft, below flood stageMar 19, 2012: 5.32 ft, below flood stage; 103 cubic feet per secondJun 1, 2013: 8.34 ft, action stage; 1,830 cubic feet per secondMay 7, 2014: 6.88 ft, below flood stage; 555 cubic feet per secondMay 30, 2015: 6.10 ft, below flood stage; 246 cubic feet per secondApr 23, 2016: 5.57 ft, below flood stage; 124 cubic feet per secondJun 2, 2017: 5.46 ft, below flood stage; 120 cubic feet per secondJun 25, 2018: 5.62 ft, below flood stage; 173 cubic feet per secondMay 28, 2019: 6.43 ft, below flood stageMay 1, 2020: 6.26 ft, below flood stage; 321 cubic feet per secondFeb 8, 2021: 6.01 ft, below flood stageJul 17, 2021: 5.39 ft, below flood stage; 105 cubic feet per secondJan 6, 2022: 6.35 ft, below flood stageMay 31, 2022: 6.17 ft, below flood stage; 294 cubic feet per secondJun 23, 2023: 8.65 ft, action stage; 2,180 cubic feet per secondJan 15, 2024: 7.90 ft, below flood stageAug 19, 2024: 5.77 ft, below flood stage; 207 cubic feet per second Highest, 10.54 ft, Jun 15, 1976 19501960197019801990200020102020

Crests at or above flood stage, by decade

Crests at or above flood stage per decade, Spearfish Creek at Spearfish 1940s: 0 1950s: 0 1960s: 1 1 1970s: 1 1980s: 0 1990s: 1 2000s: 0 2010s: 0 2020s: 0 1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010s2020s
  1. These are the crests the local National Weather Service office lists for the gauge: the highest on record and recent crests. Lesser floods between them may be missing, so counts by decade are a floor.
  2. Categories use today's flood stages. Levees, dams and channel changes since a crest can make old and new stages not directly comparable.
  3. 1 crest measured on an earlier gauge datum is left out: 7.00 ft on Jun 5, 1904.

Highest crests

The 50 highest of 83 listed crests.

Highest listed crests, Spearfish Creek at Spearfish
1Jun 15, 197610.54+0.54Minor3,870
2May 15, 196510.53+0.53Minor4,240
3May 8, 199510.11+0.11Minor1,900
4Jun 18, 19988.84−1.16Action899
5May 22, 19828.81−1.19Action2,110
6Jun 23, 20238.65−1.35Action2,180
7Jun 1, 20138.34−1.66Action1,830
8Jun 12, 19708.21−1.79Action884
9Jun 5, 20088.00−2.00Action975
10Jun 9, 19647.97−2.03Below flood stage3,040
11Jun 2, 20077.91−2.09Below flood stage855
12Jan 15, 20247.90−2.10Below flood stage—
13Dec 22, 20087.84−2.16Below flood stage—
14May 15, 19697.71−2.29Below flood stage466
15May 8, 19977.67−2.33Below flood stage322
16May 8, 19837.66−2.34Below flood stage500
17May 2, 20067.38−2.62Below flood stage186
18Jun 17, 19847.31−2.69Below flood stage285
19Jan 1, 19747.29−2.71Below flood stage175
20Jun 7, 20037.25−2.75Below flood stage209
21May 23, 20117.20−2.80Below flood stage630
22May 30, 19967.19−2.81Below flood stage204
23Jun 13, 19997.12−2.88Below flood stage187
24May 31, 19737.09−2.91Below flood stage287
25Sep 18, 20027.05−2.95Below flood stage171
26Jun 16, 19677.02−2.98Below flood stage230
27May 9, 20056.98−3.02Below flood stage114
28Apr 26, 20006.96−3.04Below flood stage152
29Apr 25, 19946.90−3.10Below flood stage175
30May 7, 20146.88−3.12Below flood stage555
31May 10, 19716.85−3.15Below flood stage234
32May 22, 19526.81−3.19Below flood stage947
33Apr 7, 20016.79−3.21Below flood stage117
34May 14, 19886.75−3.25Below flood stage118
35May 13, 19726.74−3.26Below flood stage163
36Jun 22, 19476.73−3.27Below flood stage891
37Jul 5, 20046.73−3.27Below flood stage75
38May 22, 19916.69−3.31Below flood stage106
39Jun 8, 19936.69−3.31Below flood stage100
40Apr 28, 19866.66−3.34Below flood stage104
41May 9, 19896.66−3.34Below flood stage106
42May 22, 19626.64−3.36Below flood stage830
43Apr 18, 19876.64−3.36Below flood stage86
44May 5, 19906.62−3.38Below flood stage82
45Jun 25, 19686.60−3.40Below flood stage106
46Apr 17, 19856.59−3.41Below flood stage89
47Apr 29, 19926.57−3.43Below flood stage70
48Apr 29, 19636.47−3.53Below flood stage662
49Apr 17, 19666.47−3.53Below flood stage112
50May 28, 20196.43−3.57Below flood stage—

The worst floods along the Spearfish Creek

For this gauge's highest crests, the other gauges on the Spearfish Creek that crested above flood stage within a week.

May 8, 1995: 10.11 ft here, minor flooding

  • SpearfishSD · May 8, 1995 · 7.42 ft · Minor · its highest

Gauges on the Spearfish Creek

In USGS station-number order, which runs downstream within a river basin.

Flood gauges on the Spearfish Creek
SpearfishSD7.07.42 ft, May 8, 19950
Spearfish this gaugeSD10.010.54 ft, Jun 15, 19760

Other gauges in Lawrence County

Flood gauges in Lawrence County
Bear Butte Creek in Boulder Canyon6.57.86 ft, Jul 4, 20190
Galena7.58.34 ft, May 8, 19950
Roubaix11.012.32 ft, May 8, 19950
Lead7.523.40 ft, May 2, 199710
Wyoming-South Dakota State Line12.012.19 ft, Aug 22, 19730
Spearfish7.07.42 ft, May 8, 19950

Lawrence County: every hazard · River floods across the country · South Dakota

NOAA National Water Prediction Service, gauge SFHS2, retrieved October 30, 2026. Stages in feet on the gauge's own datum, not elevation. Crests are as the National Weather Service lists them; preliminary values may be revised.