Howes, South Dakota
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Howard Township. It lies in ZIP code area 57748. The Survey maps it on the Howes quadrangle. It stands 2,408 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 8 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1953 USGS Rapid City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Howes quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Rapid City quadrangle1:250000
- 1984 USGS Camp Creek quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
19 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Howes between 2000 and 2018, burning about 2,584 acres in total. 11 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 11 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2018 | Natural | 10 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | MILE MARKER 114 FIRE |
| 9 September 2018 | Natural | 15 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | HOWES GRAZING |
| 5 September 2011 | Natural | 20 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | GRAZING |
| 4 September 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 33 acres | Cheyenne River Agency | BUFFLAKE |
| 22 August 2011 | Natural | 1.0 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | HUDSON |
| 13 August 2007 | Natural | 350 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 12 August 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
| 12 August 2007 | Natural | 500 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
33 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Howes in 33 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 18 thunderstorm wind, 13 hail, 1 flood, 1 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1998 | Hail | Howes | 1 hurt | A motorist was injured by broken glass and hail. |
| June 2008 | Flood | Howes | $500,000 | Elk Creek, Alkali Creek, Antelope Creek, the Belle Fourche River and their tributaries flooded from east of Piedmont to Viewfield and Elm Springs. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | $10,000 | A garage was destroyed by strong winds. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | $5,000 | Wind-driven hail caused minor damage. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | SD Mesonet recorded wind gust. |
| September 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | SD Mesonet Station recorded the wind gust. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | SD Mesonet recorded wind gust. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph. |
| July 2016 | Hail | Howes | - | Hail to quarter size and wind gusts to 50 mph were reported with the storm. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| June 2014 | Tornado (EF0) | Howes | - | A very small tornado was observed. It caused no damage. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | The spotter estimated wind gusts at 70 mph. |
| May 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| April 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | Wind gusts were estimated around 60 mph. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | Thunderstorm winds ripped the roof off a large machine shed, smashed calf shelters, and tossed large round hay bales. The skirting and deck of a mobile home was torn off. At another ranch, two cone-shaped grain bins on posts were blown over. |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | Tractor-trailer semi blown off road. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | no account filed |
| September 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
| June 2012 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
| June 2003 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
| August 2002 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Howes | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Howes | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Howes | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5921857 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1261021. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.



