Counties in South Dakota with the fastest-rising temperatures in the last 100 years
Counties in South Dakota with the fastest-rising temperatures in the last 100 years
Hitting 116 degrees F in normally temperate Portland, Oregon. 105 degrees in Reno in September, just as summer is meant to be waning. And in California's Death Valley National Park, temperatures hit almost 130 degrees in the aptly named Furnace Creek, marking a world record for the hottest September day in history.
2021 and 2022 saw some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded, as across the country extreme heat waves wreaked havoc on communities accustomed to more moderate weather. For many regions, the consequences were grave: in the 2021 Western heatwave, hundreds lost their lives, largely due to a lack of air conditioning, and wildfires ravaged the area.
Map of the past year's temperatures compared to the 100-year average
While not every county in the nation has experienced such extreme heat, climate change has dramatically changed the heat landscape in nearly every state. Coastal regions and the Southern U.S. are particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures, and are also frequently targets of extreme weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes.
Just as all states are not impacted equally by rising temperatures, regions within states have also seen widely different temperature changes over the last decades. Factors such as proximity to urban areas, bodies of water, and mountains can dramatically change the climate of a region. Stacker cited data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Center for Environmental Information to identify the counties in South Dakota with the greatest departure from average temperatures during the period December 2021 to November 2022 compared to the 1901-2000 average. Average temperature over the past year served as a tiebreaker. Additional data on recent average high and low temperatures for each county is also included.
#50. Faulk County
- #44 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 31.9 F (0.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 56 F (0.9 F above century average)
#49. Potter County
- #44 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 31.6 F (0.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 56.4 F (1.2 F above century average)
#48. Jerauld County
- #44 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.7 F (-0.4 F below century average)
- Recent average high: 58.9 F (2.2 F above century average)
#47. Deuel County
- #40 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.7 F (1.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 53.1 F (0.5 F above century average)
#46. Dewey County
- #41 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.4 F (0.3 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 58.3 F (1.9 F above century average)
#45. Lawrence County
- #38 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 30.4 F (0.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 56.7 F (1.6 F above century average)
#44. Kingsbury County
- #36 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.6 F (1 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 56.3 F (1.4 F above century average)
#43. Spink County
- #40 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.4 F (1 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 57 F (1.3 F above century average)
#42. Hand County
- #41 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.4 F (0.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 58 F (1.7 F above century average)
#41. Beadle County
- #38 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.8 F (0.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 58.5 F (1.8 F above century average)
#40. Aurora County
- #37 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 33.2 F (-0.2 F below century average)
- Recent average high: 60.6 F (2.7 F above century average)
#39. Douglas County
- #36 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 34.2 F (0 F below century average)
- Recent average high: 61.4 F (2.4 F above century average)
#38. Jones County
- #37 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 34.1 F (0.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61.6 F (1.7 F above century average)
#37. Moody County
- #34 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 33.7 F (1.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 56.4 F (1.3 F above century average)
#36. Hyde County
- #34 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 31.9 F (0.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 58.1 F (2 F above century average)
#35. Lake County
- #33 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 33.5 F (1.1 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 56.9 F (1.5 F above century average)
#34. McCook County
- #35 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 34.2 F (0.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 58.9 F (1.9 F above century average)
#33. Hamlin County
- #35 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32 F (1.5 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 54.6 F (1.3 F above century average)
#32. Brookings County
- #32 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 33.5 F (1.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 55 F (1 F above century average)
#31. Sully County
- #33 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.5 F (0.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 59 F (2 F above century average)
#30. Buffalo County
- #36 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.8 F (0 F below century average)
- Recent average high: 60.4 F (2.8 F above century average)
#29. Hughes County
- #33 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 33.3 F (0.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 60.4 F (2.2 F above century average)
#28. Stanley County
- #34 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 33.5 F (0.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61 F (2.3 F above century average)
#27. Haakon County
- #36 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 33.1 F (0 F below century average)
- Recent average high: 61.6 F (2.7 F above century average)
#26. Hutchinson County
- #34 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 34.9 F (0.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 60.8 F (2.2 F above century average)
#25. Union County
- #28 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 35.7 F (0.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61.1 F (2.4 F above century average)
#24. Custer County
- #33 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.9 F (0.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 59.7 F (2.1 F above century average)
#23. Clay County
- #24 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 36 F (0.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61.2 F (2.3 F above century average)
#22. Pennington County
- #30 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.8 F (0.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 60.2 F (2.3 F above century average)
#21. Lincoln County
- #27 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 35.1 F (0.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 59.5 F (2.2 F above century average)
#20. Lyman County
- #31 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 34.3 F (0.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61.8 F (2.5 F above century average)
#19. Jackson County
- #33 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 34.4 F (0.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.6 F (2.4 F above century average)
#18. Mellette County
- #33 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 34.5 F (0.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63 F (2.5 F above century average)
#17. Perkins County
- #32 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 31 F (0.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 58.3 F (2.7 F above century average)
#16. Meade County
- #28 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 33 F (0.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61 F (2.8 F above century average)
#15. Bon Homme County
- #24 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 35.9 F (0.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.2 F (2.7 F above century average)
#14. Charles Mix County
- #25 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 35.5 F (0.5 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.6 F (2.8 F above century average)
#13. Ziebach County
- #27 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.4 F (0.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 60.1 F (3.2 F above century average)
#12. Brule County
- #31 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 34.2 F (0.5 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61.5 F (3 F above century average)
#11. Fall River County
- #25 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 33.4 F (0.9 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.2 F (2.7 F above century average)
#10. Turner County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 35.4 F (1.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 60.1 F (2.3 F above century average)
#9. Bennett County
- #24 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 33.9 F (1 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.2 F (2.9 F above century average)
#8. Todd County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 34.3 F (0.7 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.8 F (3.2 F above century average)
#7. Yankton County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 36.4 F (1.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 61.3 F (2.5 F above century average)
#6. Gregory County
- #20 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 35.5 F (0.6 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 62.6 F (3.3 F above century average)
#5. Harding County
- #25 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 31.2 F (1.2 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 58.5 F (2.9 F above century average)
#4. Butte County
- #25 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 32.6 F (1.4 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 60.6 F (2.8 F above century average)
#3. Tripp County
- #21 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 35 F (0.8 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.2 F (3.4 F above century average)
#2. Minnehaha County
- #19 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 35 F (2 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 58.6 F (2.5 F above century average)
#1. Oglala Lakota County
- #23 warmest year since 1895
- Recent average low: 34.7 F (1.3 F above century average)
- Recent average high: 63.1 F (3 F above century average)