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Lake Andes, South Dakota

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1990. It stands in White Swan Township. It lies in ZIP code area 57356. The Survey maps it on the Lake Andes quadrangle. 710 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,480 feet above sea level.

Lake Andes within Charles Mix County

On record in Lake Andes

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 3 records

Population over time

2 figures

Lake Andes fell from 879 to 710 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010879
2020710-169 (-19%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

6 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

83 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 83 fires within 5 miles of Lake Andes between 1999 and 2020, burning about 929 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 7 were 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined31
Debris and open burning13
Fireworks13
Arson/incendiarism7
Recreation and ceremony5
Natural4
Smoking3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Firearms and explosives use1
Other causes1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined15 acresYankton AgencyLAR12
25 September 2002Debris and open burning1.0 acresYankton AgencyWALAKE
16 September 2008Debris and open burning2.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
11 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresYankton AgencyLAR 13
10 September 2005Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
6 August 2005Arson/incendiarism5.0 acresYankton AgencyA0805018
31 August 2005Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresYankton AgencyA0805020
28 August 2005Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresYankton AgencyA0805019

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Charles Mix County

Storms near this place

52 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lake Andes in 52 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 35 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2010Flash FloodLake Andes$1,000,000Heavy rainfall of up to 6 inches caused widespread flash flooding of numerous roads, residences, fields, and other low areas, causing damage to and forcing evacuation of numerous residences. Many of the flooded roads were washed out. The Yankton Sioux reservation including the town of Marty was especially hard hit, with the tribal headquarters made unusable, and 63 families displaced from their homes.Flood damage was estimated at one million dollars by the county emergency manager.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindLake Andes$100,000Thunderstorm winds damaged trees and power lines, with numerous power poles reported down. Farm machinery and roofs were damaged, including a roof blown off a home. A mobile home was overturned. Crop damage was reported, but the amount of crop damage was not known.
June 2003Tornado (F1)Lake Andes$50,000A tornado damaged or destroyed several buildings at an abandoned farm, and also caused tree damage.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindLake Andes$10,000Extensive tree damage was reported throughout Lake Andes. Property damage costs are rough estimates.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindLake Andes$10,000Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including large limbs broken off. Some vehicles were dented by tree debris. Power lines were blown down and a power outage was reported.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindLake Andes$5,000Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage, including large limbs blown down. A car window was smashed by one falling limb. The winds also blew down power lines, causing a power outage.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindLake Andes$5,000Thunderstorm winds damaged a camper and deck.
April 2016Thunderstorm WindLake Andes$2,000Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a trailer house.
July 2001LightningLake Andes$1,000Lightning struck and splintered a large and old tree in the yard of a home. Most of the tree remained standing, but it was feared the tree would not survive.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindLake Andes-Thunderstorm wind gust was measured by a personal weather station.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindLake Andes-Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured by a personal weather station.
June 2024HailLake Andes-Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
September 2019HailLake Andes-Hail, mostly dime-sized, covered roads.
June 2018HailLake Andes-Storm produced hail up to penny size.
September 2018Flash FloodLake Andes-Several inches of water over 382nd Avenue starting a half mile north of Lake Andes. The water extends over a quarter mile stretch.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindLake Andes-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including branches blown down.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindLake Andes-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including up to 4 inch diameter branches blown down.
August 2007HailLake Andes-Large hail whitened the ground.
June 2007HailLake Andes-Large hail was accompanied by very heavy rain.
July 2004HailLake Andes-Large hail caused damage to vehicles, windows, and crops. The amount of damage was not known.
June 2003HailLake Andes-Large hail covered the ground.
June 2003HailLake Andes-Large hail covered the ground and caused severe crop damage in a 15 mile wide area over southern and eastern Charles Mix County. About 60,000 acres of crops were damaged or destroyed. Damage to soybean crops was severe, but in many places the beans were replanted as it was still early enough in the growing season. Much of the corn that was damaged was reported to be recovering in the weeks after the storm. Wheat crops were in some cases totally destroyed, with beans being planted in place. Alfalfa and hay were also damaged. An estimate of the crop damage was not available due to the ongoing recovery process, and the complications of figuring damages in the case of replanted crops. The hail accumulated to a depth of several inches in places, with drifts as high as four feet in the Wagner area. Snow plows were needed to clear roads in the Wagner and Lake Andes areas. The hail cracked windows and damaged siding in the Wagner area.
June 2003Tornado (F0)Lake Andes-A weak tornado caused no reported damage.
June 2003Tornado (F1)Lake Andes-A tornado destroyed four grain bins and two sheds on a farm.
June 2024HailLake Andes-no account filed
June 2023HailLake Andes-no account filed
June 2023HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 2019HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 2019HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 2019HailLake Andes-no account filed
June 2017HailLake Andes-no account filed
June 2008HailLake Andes-no account filed
June 2008HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 2007HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 2007HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 2007HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 2007HailLake Andes-no account filed
June 2007HailLake Andes-no account filed
September 2006HailLake Andes-no account filed
September 2006HailLake Andes-no account filed
May 2004HailLake Andes-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindLake Andes-no account filed
June 2003HailLake Andes-no account filed
June 2003HailLake Andes-no account filed
July 2002HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 2001HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 2000HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 2000HailLake Andes-no account filed
June 1999HailLake Andes-no account filed
June 1999HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 1996HailLake Andes-no account filed
August 1995HailLake Andes-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Charles Mix County

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.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Dezera2.2 miles11
Lake View Colony6.0 miles10
Pickstown6.2 miles10
Ravinia6.2 miles10
Geddes10.6 miles9
Marty12.9 miles10
Wagner14.2 miles11
Wheeler (historical)16.0 miles9

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 Lake AndesAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2411086The 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 1256006. 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.