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White Lake, South Dakota

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1990. It stands in White Lake City. It lies in ZIP code area 57383. The Survey maps it on the White Lake quadrangle. 394 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,647 feet above sea level.

White Lake within Aurora County

On record in White Lake

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

White Lake grew from 372 to 394 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
2010372
2020394+22 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 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

2 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 2 fires within 5 miles of White Lake in 2017, burning about 94 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
Equipment and vehicle use1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
5 July 2017Equipment and vehicle use90 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionJOHNSON
24 November 2017Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.0 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire SuppressionLAKE

Every fire recorded in Aurora County

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of White Lake: 1 producer. 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
Robby Sand & Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Aurora County

Storms near this place

60 of 80 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names White Lake in 80 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 46 hail, 30 thunderstorm wind, 2 funnel cloud, 1 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 2000Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake$200,000Thunderstorm winds partly or totally destroyed numerous farm buildings, moved a large semi-truck 30 feet, blew another semi-truck into a ditch, caused widespread tree and power line damage including 2 foot diameter trees blown down, and damaged homes and vehicles, mainly with flying debris. Power outages resulted from the power lines and poles being blown down.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake$100,000Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage and also damaged at least two buildings.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake$40,000Thunderstorm winds blew the roof off a house and heavily damaged the adjoining garage. The winds also blew out car windows and caused tree damage, including several trees blown down.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake$20,000no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake$10,000no account filed
July 2025Funnel CloudWhite Lake-A funnel cloud developed over White Lake.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-A full-sized tree with an estimated diameter of at least 16 inches was broken in half. Some minor building damage occurred from the thunderstorm wind gusts.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-An extended period of thunderstorm severe wind gusts were measured by South Dakota Mesonet station WTES2 White Lake.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Several moderate tree limbs were downed by thunderstorm winds. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-A thunderstorm wind gust of 59 mph was measured by South Dakota State University mesonet site WTES2 1 mile east-northeast of White Lake.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Personal weather station KSDWESSI5 measured a peak wind gust of 60 mph.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Tree damage.
August 2018Tornado (EF0)White Lake-Tornado caused a swath of damage to crops, and moved round hay bales. Fences and trees were also damaged along the path.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Measured at SDSU mesonet site.
May 2016HailWhite Lake-Large hail was accompanied by a 55 mph wind gust.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several branches blown down. The winds were accompanied by nickel size hail.
July 2014HailWhite Lake-Hail was accompanied by damaging winds.
July 2014HailWhite Lake-Large hail was accompanied by estimated 70 mph wind gusts.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage. The winds were accompanied by quarter size hail.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Thunderstorm winds blew down a few trees, including a 6 inch diameter cottonwood tree.
May 2012HailWhite Lake-Large hail covered the ground and a road.
May 2012HailWhite Lake-Large hail was accompanied by estimated 60 mph wind gusts. The wind driven hail caused an unknown amount of vehicle damage.
May 2012Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Wind gusts to 60 mph were accompanied by golf ball size hail.
March 2011FloodWhite Lake-Melting of a heavy winter snow cover caused flooding of lowlands and small streams, including considerable flooding of farmland. Several roads in the county were flooded. Some of the roads were closed, and some were washed out in spots. The flooding onset was rapid for a snow melt flood due to high water and groundwater levels from record precipitation in the year 2010.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several branches blown down.
July 2010HailWhite Lake-Large hail caused an unknown amount of crop damage.
July 2010HailWhite Lake-Large hail caused an unknown amount of damage to vehicles and corn crops.
July 2009HailWhite Lake-Large hail severely damaged crops. The amount of crop damage was not known.
June 2008HailWhite Lake-Large hail was accompanied by estimated 50 mph wind gusts.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several branches blown down.
April 2007HailWhite Lake-Large hail damaged vehicles and windows. The amount of damage was not known.
June 2007HailWhite Lake-Very large hail caused heavy damage to vehicles and buildings. Windows were broken on both vehicles and buildings, including homes. Siding and other roof damage was reported. Vehicles were severely dented. Most of the property damage was reported in the town of White lake. The hail also stripped leaves from trees and damaged crops. The amount of property and crop damage was not known.
August 2004HailWhite Lake-Large hail covered the ground.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-Thunderstorm winds caused tree and power line damage, resulting in a power outage.
May 2002HailWhite Lake-Hail covered the ground.
June 2000HailWhite Lake-Large hail accumulated to a depth of 3 to 5 inches. The hail totally destroyed some crops.
July 2024HailWhite Lake-no account filed
June 2020HailWhite Lake-no account filed
July 2019HailWhite Lake-no account filed
August 2019Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-no account filed
July 2019Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-no account filed
August 2018HailWhite Lake-no account filed
September 2017HailWhite Lake-no account filed
June 2017HailWhite Lake-no account filed
May 2016HailWhite Lake-no account filed
May 2016HailWhite Lake-no account filed
May 2014HailWhite Lake-no account filed
July 2014Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-no account filed
June 2013Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-no account filed
May 2013Funnel CloudWhite Lake-no account filed
May 2012HailWhite Lake-no account filed
September 2012HailWhite Lake-no account filed
September 2012HailWhite Lake-no account filed
July 2010HailWhite Lake-no account filed
July 2010HailWhite Lake-no account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindWhite Lake-no account filed
June 2008HailWhite Lake-no account filed
June 2008HailWhite Lake-no account filed
April 2007HailWhite Lake-no account filed
April 2007HailWhite Lake-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Aurora 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
Plankinton12.2 miles11
Aurora Center15.5 miles8
Stickney17.6 miles11
Storla21.3 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 White LakeAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2361989The 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 1258966. 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.