South Dakota wildfires

Are wildfire records common in South Dakota?

South Dakota averages about 4.9 wildfire records a year since 2000, 22nd of 48 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2000 (38). Per 10,000 square miles of land, South Dakota records 11 wildfire records since 1996, 28th of 48 states and territories by that measure.

1. 1. Hawaii 441
2. 2. New Jersey 241
3. 3. Puerto Rico 137
4. 4. California 102
5. 5. Florida 91
6. 6. Oklahoma 88
7. 7. Delaware 87
8. 8. Washington 82
9. 9. Oregon 77
10. 10. Colorado 64
11. 28. South Dakota 11

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in South Dakota have the most wildfire records?

Per square mile, Buffalo County leads South Dakota: 3 days with a wildfire record since 1996, 6.4 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Brown County has the most wildfire records (8 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

1. Buffalo County 6.4 (3)
2. Brown County 4.7 (8)
3. Douglas County 4.6 (2)
4. Jones County 4.1 (4)
5. Yankton County 3.8 (2)
6. Bennett County 2.5 (3)
7. Lawrence County 2.5 (2)
8. Corson County 2.0 (5)
9. Gregory County 2.0 (2)
10. Moody County 1.9 (1)
11. Lyman County 1.8 (3)
12. Charles Mix County 1.8 (2)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is fire season in South Dakota?

South Dakota's wildfire records by month. The busiest month is September (18 records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

What were the deadliest wildfire records in South Dakota?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest wildfire records in South Dakota

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are wildfire records becoming more frequent in South Dakota?

South Dakota's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent wildfire records in South Dakota

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for wildfire records in South Dakota

FEMA has declared 27 disasters in South Dakota for wildfire, counting its incident type and declarations that name fire in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 0 were major disasters, the latest on March 13, 2026.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Next

• Buffalo County: the county's whole recordThe South Dakota county with the most wildfire records per square mile
• Wildfires across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in South DakotaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
• Hail in South Dakota17,011 records
• Severe thunderstorm wind in South Dakota12,755 records
• Winter storms in South Dakota10,128 records