BlockBefore

Wasta, South Dakota

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1984. It stands in Wasta town. It lies in ZIP code area 57791. It lies near Hawk Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Wasta quadrangle. 65 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 2,320 feet above sea level.

Wasta within Pennington County

On record in Wasta

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 4 records

Population over time

2 figures

Wasta fell from 80 to 65 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
201080
202065-15 (-19%)

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

23 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 23 fires within 5 miles of Wasta between 2004 and 2020, burning about 1,004 acres in total. 7 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 use8
Natural7
Railroad operations and maintenance4
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
4 September 2016Natural2.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionLYTLE HAY FIRE
19 September 2008Natural17 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
5 August 2007Equipment and vehicle use30 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
25 August 2016Equipment and vehicle use50 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionSUNDQUIST FIRE 2
23 August 2020Natural570 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionFITZGERALD CA
14 August 2006Natural15 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
1 August 2007Equipment and vehicle use11 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
1 August 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined3.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Pennington 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 Wasta: 2 producers, 1 past producer. 2 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
Birdsall Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Everist Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Pennington County

Storms near this place

60 of 94 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wasta in 94 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 72 thunderstorm wind, 20 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flood. The reports record 1 death. 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
August 2011LightningWasta1 killedno account filed
July 2010Thunderstorm WindWasta$10,000Winds estimated at 70 mph blew away a storage building, tipped over a horse trailer, and blew down several trees.
May 2010HailWasta$7,000Golf ball sized hail caused minor damage to automobiles.
June 1994Thunderstorm WindWasta$5,000Winds toppled a large trailer being pulled along Interstate 90.
June 1994HailWasta$5,000Numerous windshields were broken.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindWasta-Partner submitted report.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindWasta-SDOT submitted this wind gust report.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD mesonet recorded wind gust at this location.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindWasta-SDOT submitted wind gust report.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindWasta-Law enforcement report.
April 2026Thunderstorm WindWasta-SDOT submitted wind gust report.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD mesonet recorded wind gust.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD mesonet recorded wind gust.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD mesonet recorded wind gust.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD mesonet recorded wind gust.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD Mesonet measured wind gust.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD Mesonet measured wind gust.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD Mesonet measured wind gust.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD Mesonet recorded wind gust. Heat burst.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD Mesonet recorded wind gust.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD Mesonet recorded wind gust.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindWasta-SD Mesonet recorded wind gust.
May 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindWasta-Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindWasta-The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph.
May 2016HailWasta-Hail to quarter size covered the ground.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindWasta-Wind gusts were estimated around 60 mph.
May 2015FloodWasta-Minor flooding of agricultural land occurred along the Cheyenne River. At the Interstate 90 eastbound rest area near Wasta, water overflowed into the parking lot and surrounded the building.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindWasta-The spotter estimated wind gusts at 60 mph.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindWasta-Wind gusts were estimated at 70 mph.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindWasta-Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindWasta-A semi-truck was blown onto its side by thunderstorm wind gusts. Event time was estimated from dispatch reports.
June 2006Thunderstorm WindWasta-10 inch diameter tree was blown down.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
May 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
July 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
June 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
June 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
April 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
April 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
April 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
September 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
September 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
August 2024Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
June 2023HailWasta-no account filed
May 2022Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
August 2022Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
July 2022HailWasta-no account filed
July 2022HailWasta-no account filed
July 2022HailWasta-no account filed
June 2022Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
June 2022Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
June 2022Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
June 2021Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
May 2021Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
June 2021Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
June 2021Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
July 2021Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
July 2020Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed
July 2020Thunderstorm WindWasta-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Pennington 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
Wicksville7.8 miles9
Owanka8.2 miles9
Wall12.0 miles8
Creston17.3 miles8
Quinn17.8 miles8
Creighton18.0 miles7
Mawl Springs18.8 miles8
Scenic20.8 miles10

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 WastaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q940087The 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 1258837. 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.