BlockBefore

Promise, South Dakota

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the South Dewey unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 57601. It stands on Virgin Creek. The Survey maps it on the Promise quadrangle.

Promise within Dewey County

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 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

17 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Promise between 1992 and 2014, burning about 295 acres in total. 8 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
Natural8
Equipment and vehicle use3
Fireworks2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Recreation and ceremony1

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
18 September 2013Naturalunder an acreCheyenne River AgencyCHICKLETS
10 September 1994Natural97 acresCheyenne River AgencyTERRY D-X
2 August 2005Naturalunder an acreCheyenne River AgencyBOBBY DX
11 August 2002Natural8.3 acresCheyenne River AgencyTED DX.
11 August 2002Naturalunder an acreCheyenne River AgencyGENE RYAN
4 July 2002Natural1.0 acresTrail City Volunteer Fire DepartmentBILL HAHNE
2 July 2000Fireworksunder an acreCheyenne River AgencyPROMISE
17 July 2006Power generation/transmission/distribution166 acresCheyenne River AgencySHEEP CAMP

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Dewey County

Storms near this place

18 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Promise in 18 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 14 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 2008FloodPromise$75,000Runoff from very heavy rains caused the Moreau River to rise above flood stage on June 5th. The river crested at 25.4 feet on June 8th before falling back below flood stage on June 10th. Flood stage on the Moreau River is 21 feet.
July 2025HailPromise-Ping-Pong ball-sized hail was reported.
September 2013Thunderstorm WindPromise-An estimated 60 mph wind gust was reported by the public.
August 2006Flash FloodPromise-Heavy rain in a very short time period caused flash flooding east of Promise with water flowing over several roads.
June 2023HailPromise-no account filed
June 2023HailPromise-no account filed
July 2022HailPromise-no account filed
June 2010HailPromise-no account filed
June 2010HailPromise-no account filed
June 2010HailPromise-no account filed
May 2008HailPromise-no account filed
August 2008HailPromise-no account filed
June 2006HailPromise-no account filed
May 2004HailPromise-no account filed
May 2004HailPromise-no account filed
July 1997Flash FloodPromise-no account filed
June 1994HailPromise-no account filed
June 1994HailPromise-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Dewey 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
Virginia6.5 miles9
Yellowhorse Ford10.9 miles8
Moreau11.0 miles7
Trail City11.6 miles7
La Plant13.2 miles7
Whitehorse15.6 miles8
Glencross18.6 miles7
Ridgeview20.0 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 PromiseAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q23709416The 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 1257232. 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.