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Leola, South Dakota

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1899 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Leola City. It lies in ZIP code area 57456. The Survey maps it on the Leola quadrangle. 434 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,591 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Leola within McPherson County

On record in Leola

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 2 records

Population over time

2 figures

Leola fell from 457 to 434 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
2010457
2020434-23 (-5%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 8 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

5 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Leola between 2015 and 2017, burning about 6 acres in total. 1 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
Equipment and vehicle use3
Debris and open burning1
Natural1

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
21 July 2016Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionGERALD RORT BALE
8 June 2016Equipment and vehicle use1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionFAUTH
27 June 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionHWY 10
14 May 2017Natural2.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionHOWARD FIRE
16 April 2015Debris and open burning1.5 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionDUMP GROUND

Every fire recorded in McPherson County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Leola: 1 producer. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Glaesman Pit & MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in McPherson County

Storms near this place

60 of 85 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Leola in 85 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 57 hail, 18 thunderstorm wind, 7 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
July 1994Thunderstorm WindLeola$5,000Thunderstorm Winds uprooted some trees.
August 1993HailLeola$500no account filed
August 2025Tornado (EFU)Leola-The Leola fire department observed a brief touchdown in an open field. No damage was observed.
May 2024Funnel CloudLeola-The public relayed through Facebook the presence of a funnel cloud near the town of Leola.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindLeola-The wind gust was measured by a personal weather station.
June 2022HailLeola-The report of severe hail came from mPING.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindLeola-A personal weather station recorded a wind gust of 79 mph.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindLeola-A machine shed was destroyed, a stave silo partially destroyed, farm equipment was displaced, machine shed doors pushed in, multiple grain bins dented and widespread tree damage occurred.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindLeola-Wind blew in a shop/shed door and blew off the shop/shed's tin roof. It also blew a grain bin off its base, and snapped a pole in half.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindLeola-Estimated 80 mph winds caused damage along the south side of Leola including an unroofed barn, tipped grain bins, downed tree branches, tipped camper, and destroyed pole barn. Debris was sent flying into the home of a local resident with no injuries reported.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindLeola-Estimated eighty mph wind downed a tree and collapsed a garage.
June 2015HailLeola-Severe winds combined with quarter size hail broke twelve windows out of the county courthouse.
July 2015HailLeola-Large hail broke a house window.
July 2015Tornado (EF0)Leola-A second brief tornado occurred northwest of Leola in an open field.
July 2015Tornado (EF0)Leola-A small rope tornado touched down briefly in an open field.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindLeola-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindLeola-Sixty mph winds were estimated by the public.
May 2010Flash FloodLeola-Heavy rain of over two inches fell in Leola within one hour causing street flooding throughout town.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindLeola-Seventy mph winds rolled several hay bales and also downed many large tree branches.
June 2006Flash FloodLeola-Heavy rains of 3 to 5 inches flooded several roads along with many ditches and fields.
August 2006Tornado (F0)Leola-A tornado touched down briefly in an open field causing no damage.
June 2001HailLeola-Golfball to tennis ball size hail broke many windows out of several buildings along with severely damaging the siding on the house. Also, the roofs were damaged with holes in the roof of the barn.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindLeola-Sixty mph winds brought down some large tree branches.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindLeola-High winds brought some tree branches down and also blew over and damaged a playhouse and grain auger.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindLeola-Sixty mph winds brought many tree branches down in Leola.
July 1999Tornado (F0)Leola-A tornado occurred southwest of Leola and damaged every building on a farm. The garage walls collapsed and several pieces of farm equipment were flipped over. Nearly all of the windows were broken in the house. The tornado tipped over the propane tank, central air unit and the satellite dish. Some debris created some holes in the roof and sides of the house. Approximately 50 bales of hay were torn apart. A car was also extensively damaged. Path length and width were estimated.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindLeola-Winds gusting to around 70 mph downed several trees in Leola along with many large tree branches. The high winds also snapped a wooden street sign off.
July 2022HailLeola-no account filed
June 2022HailLeola-no account filed
April 2020HailLeola-no account filed
June 2020HailLeola-no account filed
August 2018HailLeola-no account filed
July 2016HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2015HailLeola-no account filed
July 2014HailLeola-no account filed
May 2010HailLeola-no account filed
August 2009HailLeola-no account filed
July 2008HailLeola-no account filed
July 2008HailLeola-no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindLeola-no account filed
June 2007HailLeola-no account filed
June 2006HailLeola-no account filed
August 2006HailLeola-no account filed
August 2006HailLeola-no account filed
August 2006HailLeola-no account filed
August 2006HailLeola-no account filed
August 2006HailLeola-no account filed
June 2005HailLeola-no account filed
May 2005HailLeola-no account filed
May 2005HailLeola-no account filed

Every storm recorded in McPherson 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
Grassland Colony8.8 miles8
Long Lake Colony10.3 miles8
Wetonka11.4 miles8
Spring Creek Colony13.3 miles8
Long Lake16.8 miles7
Hillsview33.0 miles7
Eureka36.1 miles7
Greenway42.8 miles7

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 LeolaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q582933The 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 1256095. 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.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

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.