BlockBefore

Waubay, South Dakota

7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Waubay City. It lies in ZIP code area 57273. The Survey maps it on the Waubay quadrangle. 473 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,818 feet above sea level.

Waubay within Day County

Population over time

2 figures

Waubay fell from 576 to 473 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
2010576
2020473-103 (-18%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 7 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

13 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Waubay between 1992 and 2016, burning about 1,649 acres in total. None 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
Debris and open burning5
Smoking3
Missing data/not specified/undetermined2
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Fireworks1

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
12 September 1996Smoking1.0 acresSisseton AgencyWABED
13 August 1997Smoking1.0 acresSisseton AgencyWAUBAY
4 July 1994Fireworks1.5 acresSisseton AgencyBLUEDOG
9 May 1997Debris and open burning1.0 acresSisseton AgencyKEEBLE
24 May 2002Misuse of fire by a minor133 acresSisseton AgencyBLUEDOG
30 April 1992Missing data/not specified/undetermined1,435 acresWaubay National Wildlife RefugeSPRING LKE
27 April 2001Debris and open burning1.5 acresSisseton AgencyBLUDOG1
14 April 1994Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresSisseton AgencyDANCAMP

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Day County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Waubay: 2 producers. All of them 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
Day County PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Gronke PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Day County

Storms near this place

51 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Waubay in 51 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 25 thunderstorm wind, 20 hail, 4 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. The reports record 4 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 2005Thunderstorm WindWaubay4 hurtEighty mph winds or higher destroyed a 14 by 40 foot trailer home at Enemy Swim Lake. The four occupants inside were not seriously injured. The winds also damaged the roofs of two other homes, damaged several boat lifts and docks, downed some power lines and poles, damaged the school, and downed many trees and branches.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindWaubay$5,000Thunderstorm Winds blew down some power lines and tree limbs.
June 2025FloodWaubay-The Day county Emergency Manager sent photos of flooding of fields, ditches and with water over a portion of 148th st.
June 2022HailWaubay-The report was relayed via social media.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Seventy mph winds tipped over two campers with one rolling at Bitter Lake Lodge.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindWaubay-A dairy barn was partially destroyed by estimated eighty-five mph winds.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Eighty mph winds caused a lot of damage throughout Waubay with trees uprooted and damage to several structures. There were also many power outages.
June 2016Tornado (EF0)Waubay-A tornado touched down over Bitter Lake traveling northeast and dissipating before moving inland.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Sixty-five mph winds were estimated.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Ninety mph winds downed trees all over town, damaged some homes, outbuildings, grain bins, overturned and damaged numerous campers, and downed some power lines. There were also a few fires caused by the downed power lines.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Ninety mph winds downed several large trees in Waubay and also damaged several structures.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindWaubay-One hundred mph winds or higher caused significant damage from Waubay to nearly three miles southeast of Waubay. Many trees and branches were downed along the path of high winds. More significant damage occurred at the Bitter Lake Lodge campground where several campers were rolled and destroyed. Significant damage occurred at a farm with a barn roof damaged with partially collapsed walls. Empty grain bins were completely destroyed with other outbuildings sustaining damage. Also, much of the wheat and corn crop along the way was destroyed by large hail.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindWaubay-There were many trees snapped or uprooted in Waubay along with many residences sustaining roof or other structural damage.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Eighty mph winds or higher downed several power poles and many trees at Pickeral Lake along with damaging several watercraft.
July 2005Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Strong winds downed many large tree branches in Waubay.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Seventy mph winds knocked over many boats on the lake, damaged several campers and vehicles, along with downing many trees.
July 1997Tornado (F0)Waubay-The tornado touched down briefly. Path length and width were estimated.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindWaubay-Damaging thunderstorm winds blew some buildings down and some trees were uprooted.
July 1997Tornado (F0)Waubay-The tornado touched down briefly. Path length and width were estimated.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindWaubay-no account filed
July 2022Thunderstorm WindWaubay-no account filed
May 2022Thunderstorm WindWaubay-no account filed
August 2021HailWaubay-no account filed
October 2021Funnel CloudWaubay-no account filed
August 2020HailWaubay-no account filed
June 2018Thunderstorm WindWaubay-no account filed
June 2017Thunderstorm WindWaubay-no account filed
August 2016HailWaubay-no account filed
May 2015HailWaubay-no account filed
July 2015Thunderstorm WindWaubay-no account filed
June 2014HailWaubay-no account filed
July 2013HailWaubay-no account filed
May 2011HailWaubay-no account filed
July 2011HailWaubay-no account filed
July 2003HailWaubay-no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindWaubay-no account filed
September 2003HailWaubay-no account filed
September 2003HailWaubay-no account filed
June 2003HailWaubay-no account filed
June 2003HailWaubay-no account filed
June 2003HailWaubay-no account filed
June 2003HailWaubay-no account filed
June 2001HailWaubay-no account filed
June 2001HailWaubay-no account filed
August 1997HailWaubay-no account filed
August 1997Thunderstorm WindWaubay-no account filed
May 1996Tornado (F0)Waubay-no account filed
October 1996HailWaubay-no account filed
October 1996Thunderstorm WindWaubay-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Day 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
Enemy Swim6.7 miles7
Grenville10.4 miles7
Webster11.4 miles7
Roslyn15.0 miles7
Holmquist18.5 miles7
Butler22.2 miles7
Lily22.6 miles7
Bristol23.5 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 WaubayAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2614269The 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 1265711. 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.