Wewela, South Dakota
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Rames Township. It lies in ZIP code area 57580. The Survey maps it on the Wewela quadrangle. It stands 2,136 feet above sea level.
On record in Wewela
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 2 records
Wewela Halllisted 2010- South Dakota Dept. of Transportation Bridge No. 62-220-512listed 1993
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 8 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1955 USGS Mitchell quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Mitchell quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1982 USGS Wewela quadrangle1:24000
- 1986 USGS Winner quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1990 USGS Mitchell quadrangle1:250000
Fires near this place
5 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 5 fires within 5 miles of Wewela between 2000 and 2017, burning about 83 acres in total. 3 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 July 2017 | Natural | 40 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | ANDERSON |
| 24 July 2000 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Colome Volunteer Fire Department | CLIFTON PAULSON |
| 15 July 2000 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Colome Volunteer Fire Department | CLIF PAULSON |
| 17 May 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | 14-008 ERICKSON RX |
| 31 October 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 acres | Colome Volunteer Fire Department | CLIFTON PAULSON |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Wewela: 2 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
28 since 2002Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wewela in 28 storm reports between 2002 and 2025: 16 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 1 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | SD mesonet recorded wind gust. |
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | SD Mesonet recorded wind gust. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | Occasional gusts of 60 to 70 mph lasted over 30 minutes. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| August 2019 | Flash Flood | Wewela | - | Runoff from two to three inches of rain caused flash flooding around Wewela. A few roads, including 328th Avenue, 331st Avenue, and 229th Street were covered with water. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | Winds were estimated at 60 mph. |
| August 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | Wind gusts were estimated at 60 mph. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | Trees down on property. |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | Four inch diameter tree limbs were blown down. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| August 2020 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| July 2013 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| June 2009 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| April 2008 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| April 2008 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Wewela | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millboro | 10.9 miles | 8 | |
| Clearfield | 17.0 miles | 5 | |
| Colome | 17.6 miles | 8 | |
| Keyapaha | 20.1 miles | 5 | |
| Winner | 25.6 miles | 8 | |
| Jordan Junction | 29.0 miles | 5 | |
| Witten | 33.6 miles | 5 | |
| Carter | 34.3 miles | 5 |
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 Wewela | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q7990229 | The 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 1258935. 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.




