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Porcupine, South Dakota

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the East Oglala Lakota unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 57772. The Survey maps it on the Wounded Knee quadrangle. 925 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,192 feet above sea level.

Porcupine within Oglala Lakota County

Population over time

2 figures

Porcupine fell from 1,062 to 925 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
20101,062
2020925-137 (-13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

3 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

425 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 425 fires within 5 miles of Porcupine between 1992 and 2020, burning about 4,267 acres in total. 41 started naturally. 4 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
Debris and open burning134
Misuse of fire by a minor68
Other causes62
Natural41
Equipment and vehicle use37
Missing data/not specified/undetermined31
Fireworks28
Smoking12
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Arson/incendiarism4
Recreation and ceremony4

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
9 September 2017Naturalunder an acrePine Ridge AgencyLB ONE
8 September 2011Debris and open burningunder an acrePine Ridge AgencyOLD CLOTHES
7 September 2001Natural2.0 acresPine Ridge AgencyIRON CLOUD
6 September 2012Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acrePine Ridge AgencyKINGSTON
6 September 2012Fireworksunder an acrePine Ridge AgencyFLOATING FLAME
6 September 2003Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acrePine Ridge AgencyVERY
5 September 1998Debris and open burning1.0 acresPine Ridge AgencyMOOSE
4 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acrePine Ridge AgencySMOKE POLE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Oglala Lakota County

Storms near this place

60 of 92 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Porcupine in 92 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 55 thunderstorm wind, 33 hail, 2 tornado, 1 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 2015HailPorcupine$50,000no account filed
July 2014Thunderstorm WindPorcupine$25,000Strong winds to 80 mph damaged roofs of several buildings, including the clinic; sheds, and trees in an area about one and a half mile around the community.
June 2007Tornado (EF1)Porcupine$25,000A tornado touched down about nine miles south of Kyle at 310 pm MDT, just west of American Horse Creek Road. It traveled to the northeast, crossed into Bennett County, and dissipated six miles southeast of Kyle at 335 pm MDT. Several power poles were broken and trees were blown over along American Horse Creek Road. A mobile home was also damaged.
June 2015HailPorcupine$20,000Hail to golf ball size damaged vehicles, trees, and a house.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindPorcupine$10,000A newly-built house was shifted off its foundation by strong wind gusts.
May 2018HailPorcupine$5,000The combination of hail and wind broke all windows on the west side of the house.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-SD mesonet recorded wind gust.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-SD mesonet recorded wind gust.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-Wind gusts were estimated at near 60 mph.
August 2022Flash FloodPorcupine-Runoff from heavy rain caused water to run over roads in Porcupine.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-A 40 foot long trailer house was destroyed, outbuildings were damaged, and hay bales rolled a quarter of a mile.
August 2019Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2019HailPorcupine-Wind gusts to 50 mph accompanied the storm.
July 2016HailPorcupine-Hail to golf ball size covered the ground.
July 2016Tornado (EF0)Porcupine-The spotter observed a tornado southeast of Porcupine for about two minutes before it became rain wrapped.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-Time is ob time; check time on radar.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-Strong winds broke large branches off trees.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-Wind gusts to 60 mph were reported east of Porcupine.
August 2010Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-Wind gusts to 60 mph were reported.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-Winds were estimated at 60 mph.
August 2009Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-Corn crops were damaged by the wind.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-An 86 mph wind gust was recorded by the Porcupine RAWS.
May 2008FloodPorcupine-Minor flooding was observed along the White River and its tributaries.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
July 2023Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
September 2023Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
July 2022Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
July 2021Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
August 2021Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
April 2020Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
July 2020HailPorcupine-no account filed
June 2020Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
August 2019HailPorcupine-no account filed
August 2019Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
August 2019Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
July 2019Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
August 2018Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
May 2018HailPorcupine-no account filed
May 2018Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
June 2017HailPorcupine-no account filed
June 2017Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
August 2017HailPorcupine-no account filed
August 2017HailPorcupine-no account filed
August 2017HailPorcupine-no account filed
August 2017Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
June 2016Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
August 2016Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
July 2016HailPorcupine-no account filed
August 2014HailPorcupine-no account filed
August 2014Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
July 2014Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
July 2014Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
June 2014Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
August 2013HailPorcupine-no account filed
March 2012Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
June 2012Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed
June 2012Thunderstorm WindPorcupine-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Oglala Lakota 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
Evergreen5.2 miles8
Wounded Knee7.1 miles8
Manderson7.4 miles8
Sharps Corner11.0 miles9
Denby12.3 miles8
Wakpamani12.7 miles9
Batesland14.3 miles8
Kyle15.2 miles8

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 PorcupineAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1787175The 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 1257179. 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.