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Vivian, South Dakota

6 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Vivian Township. It lies in ZIP code area 57576. It stands on North Fork Medicine Creek. The Survey maps it on the Vivian quadrangle. 98 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,896 feet above sea level.

Vivian within Lyman County

Population over time

2 figures

Vivian fell from 119 to 98 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
2010119
202098-21 (-18%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 6 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

49 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 49 fires within 5 miles of Vivian between 1999 and 2020, burning about 376 acres in total. 12 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 use13
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Natural12
Debris and open burning4
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Smoking2
Railroad operations and maintenance1
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
27 September 2020Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionINTERSTATE RV
23 September 2005Natural1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
7 August 2012Natural35 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionOWEN PETERSON
7 August 2002Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreVivian Volunteer Fire DepartmentMARKER 210 I-90
27 August 2003Natural6.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
20 August 2020Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionMORELAND FIRE
18 August 2015Naturalunder an acreSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionWILLIAMS BALE
16 August 2012Equipment and vehicle use10 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionLYLE HULLINGER

Every fire recorded in Lyman County

Storms near this place

48 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Vivian in 48 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 25 hail, 12 thunderstorm wind, 8 flood, 2 funnel cloud. The reports record 5 injuries. 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 2010HailVivian5 hurtThe eight inch diameter hailstone was a United States record. The hailstone also had a circumference of 18.625 inches and weighed 1.9375 pounds. The hailstone broke the previous United States record for diameter (7.0 inches - 22 June 2003 in Aurora, NE) and weight (1.67 pounds - 3 September 1970 in Coffeyville, KS). The Aurora, Nebraska hailstone will retain the record for circumference (18.75 inches). Extensive damage to buildings and vehicles had occurred with this record setting stone. Five minor injuries occurred on Interstate-90 as the large hailstones went through car windshields.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindVivian-A peak wind gust of 73 mph was recorded at a South Dakota State University mesonet station 12 miles south of Vivian.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindVivian-A semi tractor trailer was overturned near Vivian on Interstate 90. The report was relayed via social media, and the time and location is approximate.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindVivian-A semi jackknifed on southbound US 83 due to estimated 70 mph wind gusts.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindVivian-A trained spotter estimated wind speeds around 75 mph.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindVivian-Many small tree limbs were downed by estimated 60 mph wind gusts.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindVivian-Estimated eighty mph winds took the roof off a building.
March 2019FloodVivian-A large ice jam formed along the White River around the Highway 47 Bridge. Water backed up behind the ice, causing hundreds of acres of agricultural land to be flooded. The high water inundated several outbuildings and neared a home along Highway 47. The river crested just shy of 25 feet on March 19th. With the continued snow melt, additional rises were recorded, resulting in a second crest of 20.5 feet and a flow of 37,900 cfs on March 25th. This was the 3rd highest flow on record at this location.
May 2019FloodVivian-Minor flooding of agricultural land occurred along the White River around the Highway 47 bridge south of Reliance. The river crested a few feet over the flood stage of 15 feet to 19 feet on May 29th.
May 2019FloodVivian-Minor flooding of agricultural land occurred along the White River around the Highway 47 bridge south of Reliance. The river crested a few feet over the flood stage of 15 feet to 18.9 feet on May 24th.
June 2011FloodVivian-Minor flooding occurred along the White River. The river gage southwest of Oacoma along Highway 47 crested at 16.9 feet or 1.9 feet above flood stage. Flooding of agricultural land occurred.
February 2011FloodVivian-The White River fluctuated above and below flood stage for several days causing minor flooding to occur. The river gage southwest of Oacoma along Highway 47 crested at 21.4 feet or 6.4 feet above flood stage. Flooding of agricultural land occurred.
March 2011FloodVivian-Minor flooding occurred along the White River. The river gage southwest of Oacoma along Highway 47 crested at 16.9 feet of 1.9 feet above flood stage. Flooding of agricultural land occurred.
March 2010FloodVivian-Near record flooding occurred along the White River due to ice jamming. The river gage southwest of Oacoma along Highway 47 crested at 24.4 feet or 9.4 feet above flood stage. One home was threatened by the high water.
July 2010Tornado (EF0)Vivian-A tornado touched down briefly west of Vivian with no damage reported.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindVivian-Seventy mph winds brought down many large tree branches.
June 2025Funnel CloudVivian-no account filed
August 2025HailVivian-no account filed
August 2025Thunderstorm WindVivian-no account filed
June 2020HailVivian-no account filed
June 2020HailVivian-no account filed
June 2020HailVivian-no account filed
June 2019Funnel CloudVivian-no account filed
July 2019HailVivian-no account filed
June 2018FloodVivian-no account filed
August 2017Thunderstorm WindVivian-no account filed
June 2014HailVivian-no account filed
June 2014HailVivian-no account filed
May 2012HailVivian-no account filed
June 2011HailVivian-no account filed
May 2010HailVivian-no account filed
July 2010HailVivian-no account filed
May 2006HailVivian-no account filed
May 2006Thunderstorm WindVivian-no account filed
May 2006HailVivian-no account filed
August 2006HailVivian-no account filed
May 2003HailVivian-no account filed
June 2003HailVivian-no account filed
June 2003HailVivian-no account filed
June 2003HailVivian-no account filed
June 2003HailVivian-no account filed
July 2002Thunderstorm WindVivian-no account filed
February 2000HailVivian-no account filed
March 2000HailVivian-no account filed
July 2000HailVivian-no account filed
July 1999HailVivian-no account filed
June 1997HailVivian-no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindVivian-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Lyman 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
Presho12.4 miles6
Kennebec22.9 miles8
Lyman29.5 miles8
Reliance36.7 miles8
Council House38.7 miles8
Lower Brule39.1 miles8
Oacoma48.4 miles11
Iona53.1 miles11

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 VivianAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2529993The 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 1258764. 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.