BlockBefore

Thomas, South Dakota

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Oxford Township. It lies in ZIP code area 57241. The Survey maps it on the Pelican Lake quadrangle.

Thomas within Hamlin 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

11 since 2007

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Thomas between 2007 and 2016, burning about 906 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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
Debris and open burning6
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Arson/incendiarism1

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
6 June 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionSIMONTON FIRE
4 May 2008Debris and open burning17 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
26 May 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionSTORMO GRASS FIRE
9 April 2007Debris and open burning300 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
9 April 2007Arson/incendiarism400 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
21 April 2009Debris and open burning19 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
30 March 2015Debris and open burning40 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionLAKNESS
27 March 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionTASCHNER

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Hamlin County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Thomas: 3 past producers. None of them still produces. 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
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Hamlin County

Storms near this place

37 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Thomas in 37 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 16 flood, 13 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 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 2022FloodThomas-The Big Sioux River near Castlewood was in minor flood stage from the end of May through the evening of June 4th. It crested at 10.68 feet at 5pm on June 1st.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindThomas-Estimated sixty mph winds brought some branches down.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindThomas-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
September 2019Tornado (EF0)Thomas-The tornado started south of Thomas and tracked northeast across farm fields. Trees and outdoor lawn items were damaged after the tornado crossed Highway 22 and before crossing Clear Lake. The tornado moved off the lake, crossed a cornfield and proceeded to damage several metal beams on a quonset barn. Finally, several outbuildings and a silo were damaged on a farm before additional trees were uprooted in a shelter belt.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindThomas-Eighty mph winds downed 16 to 20 power poles southeast of Thomas.
April 2011FloodThomas-The Big Sioux River near Castlewood went slightly above the 11 foot flood stage from early to mid April before retreating to back below flood stage. Only minor flooding of crop and agricultural land occurred.
March 2011FloodThomas-The Big Sioux River went above and back below flood stage at the end of March. The river rose above flood stage of 11 feet to 12.87 feet at the gaging site at Castlewood. Minor flooding of agricultural land along with a few roads occurred.
September 2010Flash FloodThomas-Heavy rain caused flooding on the road south of Thomas.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindThomas-Sixty mph winds brought down several large tree branches.
April 2007Flash FloodThomas-Heavy rains caused the flash flooding of several township roads near Thomas.
June 2000Thunderstorm WindThomas-Winds to 70 mph brought several tree branches down in Thomas.
June 2025HailThomas-no account filed
May 2024FloodThomas-no account filed
March 2022FloodThomas-no account filed
October 2021HailThomas-no account filed
March 2020FloodThomas-no account filed
April 2020FloodThomas-no account filed
May 2019FloodThomas-no account filed
March 2019FloodThomas-no account filed
April 2019FloodThomas-no account filed
September 2019FloodThomas-no account filed
March 2018FloodThomas-no account filed
April 2018FloodThomas-no account filed
May 2018FloodThomas-no account filed
June 2017HailThomas-no account filed
August 2015HailThomas-no account filed
August 2015HailThomas-no account filed
August 2015HailThomas-no account filed
March 2014FloodThomas-no account filed
March 2010FloodThomas-no account filed
April 2007HailThomas-no account filed
June 2006HailThomas-no account filed
May 2005HailThomas-no account filed
May 2005HailThomas-no account filed
August 2004HailThomas-no account filed
June 2001HailThomas-no account filed
July 1999HailThomas-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Hamlin 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
Kones Corner5.8 miles8
Hayti7.2 miles8
Hazel9.0 miles8
Castlewood9.9 miles8
Lake Norden12.4 miles8
Alsville12.8 miles8
Stone Bridge13.5 miles8
Claremont Colony14.0 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 ThomasAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q23709432The 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 1258528. 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.