Wolsey, South Dakota
9 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Wolsey town. It lies in ZIP code area 57384. The Survey maps it on the Wolsey quadrangle. 459 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,352 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresWolsey grew from 376 to 459 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 376 | |
| 2020 | 459 | +83 (+22%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 9 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.
- 1898 USGS Huron quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Huron quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Huron quadrangle1:250000
- 1973 USGS Wolsey quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Huron quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
16 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Wolsey between 2000 and 2020, burning about 420 acres in total. 1 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 burning | 7 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 September 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | WALTERS FIRE |
| 26 September 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 60 acres | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | HAEDER SLOUGH FIRE |
| 3 July 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | LARSEN SINGLE BALE |
| 8 June 2018 | Natural | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | FRANK LIGHTNING |
| 16 June 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | 281 DITCH FIRE |
| 30 May 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | LARSEN BALES |
| 29 May 2020 | Smoking | under an acre | South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression | DITCH FIRE |
| 2 May 2000 | Debris and open burning | 30 acres | Huron Wetland Management District | WOLSEY FIR |
Storms near this place
53 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wolsey in 53 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 27 hail, 23 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. 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 2012 | Hail | Wolsey | $20,000 | Large hail dented vehicles, broke windshields, and damaged roofs. There was also an unknown amount of crop damage. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | $20,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including numerous trees and large limbs blown down. Falling trees and tree debris damaged power lines and caused a power outage. A car was also damaged by a falling tree. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts measured by a Road Weather Information System sensor near Wolsey. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Thunderstorm winds removed the roof from an outbuilding. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured by a Road Weather Information System sensor near Wolsey, with a peak of 60 mph at 0806 CST. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Wolsey | - | A brief period of hail occurred, with some up to the size of quarters. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | An extended period of severe thunderstorm wind gusts occurred at the South Dakota Road Weather Information System site near Wolsey, with a peak gust of 70 mph at 157 am CST. |
| July 2022 | Hail | Wolsey | - | Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| June 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts downed a large tree branch. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | An extended period of thunderstorm wind gusts from 60 to 80 mph was measured by South Dakota Road Weather Information System site SD582 3 miles north-northwest of Wolsey. A peak wind gust of 78 mph occurred at 1247CST. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts of 70 mph were measured by a personal weather station in Wolsey. |
| June 2020 | Hail | Wolsey | - | Crop damage is estimated from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | RWIS station 164 SD near Wolsey, SD measured winds of 65 mph. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | South Dakota RWIS station SD582, 3 miles north northwest of Wolsey, measured a peak wind gust of 61 mph. |
| July 2020 | Hail | Wolsey | - | Hail was mostly pea-sized with some up to the size of a penny, which was accompanied by winds to around 45 mph. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Strong winds displaced silo dump wagons. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Measured by RWIS station. |
| June 2017 | Hail | Wolsey | - | Via Social Media. |
| July 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Wind gusts knocked down a few tree branches. A little pea size hail also occurred. |
| July 2016 | Hail | Wolsey | - | Large hail caused suspected crop damage, but the amount of crop damage was not known. |
| June 2015 | Tornado (EF0) | Wolsey | - | A brief tornado caused no reported damage. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage. |
| June 2013 | Hail | Wolsey | - | Large hail damaged vehicles and crops. The amount of damage was not known. |
| May 2012 | Hail | Wolsey | - | Large hail covered the ground. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several branches blown down. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several branches blown down. |
| May 2007 | Tornado (EF0) | Wolsey | - | A brief tornado caused no reported damage. |
| July 2022 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| April 2022 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| July 2021 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| July 2021 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| June 2015 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Funnel Cloud | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| March 2011 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| May 2007 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| August 2005 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Wolsey | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wolsey | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgil | 8.5 miles | 9 | |
| Broadland | 8.9 miles | 9 | |
| James Valley Junction | 9.7 miles | 9 | |
| Bonilla | 12.1 miles | 10 | |
| Wessington | 12.2 miles | 9 | |
| Huron | 14.1 miles | 10 | |
| Morningside | 15.5 miles | 10 | |
| Hitchcock | 15.7 miles | 10 |
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 Wolsey | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1960980 | 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 1259072. 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.




