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Shaded-relief map of Woonsocket, South Dakota: rivers, roads, the city limits and where the water drains.
SOUTH DAKOTA · SANBORN COUNTY

Woonsocket

646 people, 1,310 ft above sea level in Sanborn County.

1,310 ftElevation, city center
646People, 2024 estimate
1 sq miLand area
Sunny 47°
Sunny now Dew point 26° · SSE 18 mph · high 44°
City of Woonsocket River Interstate 2 miles
Explore the plate Order a print

The Woonsocket plate. Relief from Copernicus GLO-30; rivers and lakes from USGS NHD; watersheds from the USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset; roads and city limits from Census TIGER 2024.

MILE1
TODAY

Today in Woonsocket

NWS forecast and National Blend of Models · updated 3:00 PM CST
RIGHT NOW Mitchell Municipal Airport (KMHE) · 3:53 PM
Sunny
47° Sunny Feels like 40° · high of 44° near 4 PM
WindSSE 18 mphno gusts
Humidity44%rising to 82% by morning
Pressure30.13 in →steady
Visibility10 mihaze-free
CloudsClear
UV index—no forecast
Dew point 26° · Dry42° by Tuesday: more humid
DryComfortableStickyMuggyOppressive
NEXT RAIN
Rain
Friday80% chance · showers
LIKELY AMOUNT—amounts come within 3 days
LAST RAINNov. 40.36 in · 10 dry days
ALERTS & OUTLOOKS
No watches or warnings for Sanborn County
NWS Sioux Falls and the Storm Prediction Center · checked 4:17 PM
SUN & MOON
↑ 7:26 AM5:08 PM ↓
9 h 41 m of daylight, 2 minutes less than yesterday
Waxing crescent, 26% lit. Next full moon: Nov. 24.
AIR & POLLEN
—
Air quality index ·
No pollen source yet.

The next three days, hour by hour

Sky: clear, cloudy, night Rain likely National Blend of Models
SATURDAY, NOV. 14
SUNDAY, NOV. 15
MONDAY, NOV. 16
TUESDAY, NOV. 17
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
10p
1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
4p
7p
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1a
4a
7a
10a
1p
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
mostly sunny
clear day
clear day
clear night
clear night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly clear night
mostly sunny
clear day
mostly sunny
mostly clear night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy night
partly cloudy day
partly cloudy day
windy
TEMPERATURE °F
44°
32°
53°
40°
57°
42°
CHANCE OF RAIN
50%
WIND, MPH
15
14
13
12
13
13
15
17
16
16
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15
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HOW IT FEELS · DEW POINT
Dry: dew points 25 to 42° More humid: 41° by Tuesday

The next seven days, and how sure we are

Forecast, with the range 8 in 10 ensemble members agree on Normal, about 46° / 25°
SAT Nov. 14 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
44° 32°
0% rain — SSE 16, gusts 28 A
SUN Nov. 15 Mostly sunny; warmer Mostly sunny; warmer
55° 39°
0% rain — S 15, gusts 30 B
MON Nov. 16 Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
59° 41°
0% rain — S 16, gusts 30 B
TUE Nov. 17 Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
56° 44°
0% rain — S 17, gusts 31 B
WED Nov. 18 Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
60° 38°
20% rain — WNW 12 C
THU Nov. 19 Partly cloudy; cooler Partly cloudy; cooler
49° 37°
10% rain — ESE 5 C
FRI Nov. 20 Showers likely Showers likely
55° 40°
80% rain 0.08–1.3″ SSE 12 C
How sure are we? AModels agree: highs within 4° BSome spread: within 8° CWide spread: check back
Range from the National Blend of Models percentiles · graded on Forecast Scores
AIR MAIL

Where today’s air came from

The air arriving over Woonsocket about 5,000 feet above the ground was over the southern Rockies three days ago, and over the southern Plains a day ago, about 930 miles back along its path. Most of the nine paths traced from around the city agree. It rose from near the ground on the way. Near the ground the air came from the Canadian Prairies; at 10,000 feet, from the Pacific Northwest. It has stayed over land, which is why it feels dry. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses, nine paths at each of three heights.

THIS WEEK IN 1999 Nov. 14, 1999

The hottest this week has been

76° on Nov. 14, 1999, the hottest reading for this week of the year since 1893. Next is 75° in 1990.

75°
76°
19901999
Source: NOAA RCC-ACIS, the Wessington Springs record since 1893.
MILE2
THE GROUND

What Woonsocket stands on

Woonsocket’s center stands about 1,310 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 1,290 ft to 1,340 ft, a difference of 50 ft: nearly flat ground.

Under the town center the state geologic map shows Niobrara Formation (chalk, marlstone, shale), from the Late Cretaceous, 66 to 100 million years old.

The section below crosses 2 rock units mapped at the surface.

Woonsocket, cut in half from west to east

A section west to east, 24 miles through the town center
1,200 ft1,300 ft1,400 ft WOONSOCKET1,310 ftHigh point of the line1,490 ftSand Creekabout 1,260 ftBig Mound1,310 ft ← WE →

Heights every 0.1 mile from the Copernicus GLO-90 surface model; vertical exaggeration about 64×. The colored band under the surface is the rock the state geologic map shows at the surface, not a picture of what lies beneath.

Rock at the surface along the line

Niobrara Formation

Chalk, marlstone, shale. Age: Late Cretaceous, 66 to 100 million years old. About 16 mi of the line.

Pierre Shale

Shale, bentonite. Age: Late Cretaceous, 66 to 100 million years old. About 8 mi of the line.

From the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation (Horton and others, 2017), the states’ geologic maps joined at a common scale.

Heights from Copernicus GLO-90 (a surface model: it includes buildings and tree canopy); summits from USGS GNIS; rivers from USGS NHDPlus HR; rock from the USGS State Geologic Map Compilation.

MILE3
THE WATER

Where Woonsocket’s rain goes

A raindrop that lands in Woonsocket reaches the Gulf of America by way of the James, the Missouri and the Mississippi: about 2,150 river miles.

THE WAY DOWN, TO SCALE
Woonsocket≈ 2,150 mi · the Gulf of America
FROM THE CENTER OF WOONSOCKET ≈ 2,150 mi to the Gulf of America James → Missouri → Mississippi

1,170 miles of the trip are on the Mississippi.

Traced down the USGS NHDPlus V2.1 river network from the Census center point of Woonsocket; river miles along the main stem, rounded.

MILE5
THE ALMANAC

Woonsocket’s year

1991–2020 normals · records since 1893 · Wessington Springs, 15 mi west

Woonsocket has a hot-summer humid continental climate. Summer afternoons average 84° in July; winter nights fall to about 7° in January. A normal year brings about 44 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 26 inches of water.

25°7°30°11°42°22°56°33°68°46°78°56°84°62°82°59°74°51°59°37°43°23°30°12° JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 TODAY WOONSOCKET 25.7 in rain and snowmelt
Normal high to low, by month Record high to low, by day Rain by month Freezing
July, average84° / 62°high / low, the warmest month
January, average25° / 7°high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow25.7 inwettest months: June and May
Snow a year44.5 insnowiest: April
Hottest on record111°FJuly 16, 2006
Coldest on record−39°FFebruary 9, 1899
Wettest day on record7.36 inJuly 30, 2010
Snowiest day on record15.6 inJanuary 30, 2001
90° days a year23about 2 of them 100° or more
Nights at or below 32°155and 67 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeHot-summer humid continentalKöppen Dfa

AROUND THE RING

1Freeze seasonfrom the first fall freeze, about Oct. 9, to the last in spring, about May 1 (median dates)
2Highs below freezingDec. 8 to Feb. 22; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezingOct. 25 to April 13; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretchMay through July: 10.6 of the year’s 25.7 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 Woonsocket normally reaches 44° and falls to 24°. The record high is 76°, in 1999; the record low −4°, in 2014. The most rain on this date, 0.49 in, fell in 1971.

MONTH BY MONTH
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Normal high25°30°42°56°68°78°84°82°74°59°43°30°
Normal low7°11°22°33°46°56°62°59°51°37°23°12°
Rain and melt, in0.640.731.293.023.673.853.092.902.732.090.930.72
Snow, inches7.57.36.48.20.00.00.00.00.01.75.38.1
Record high67° (2012)71° (2000)86° (2012)99° (1954)101° (1894)109° (1988)111° (2006)109° (1988)105° (1970)97° (1963)84° (1999)68° (1998)
Record low−36° (1912)−39° (1899)−20° (2019)1° (1899)17° (1909)27° (1901)43° (1971)23° (1900)18° (1899)5° (2020)−23° (1897)−27° (1989)

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1893 at Wessington Springs, 15 miles west, 400 ft higher. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.

MILE7
ON THE NETWORK

Around Woonsocket on the Forecast Network

Neighboring plates

Mitchell SD · 25 MI 25 miles southeast Sioux Falls SD · 85 MI 85 miles southeast Sioux City IA · 143 MI 143 miles southeast
FORECASTCITY
Map of Woonsocket, South Dakota. Explore the plate
SOUTH DAKOTA · SANBORN

Woonsocket

646 people, 1,310 ft above sea level in Sanborn County.

1,310 ftElevation
646People
1 sq miLand
Sunny 47°
SunnyDew point 26°
1

Today in Woonsocket

NEXT 15 HOURS
Now mostly sunny 44° 0%
7p partly cloudy night 38° 0%
10p partly cloudy night 35° 0%
1a partly cloudy night 34° 0%
4a mostly clear night 34° 0%
7a mostly sunny 32° 0%
Rain
NEXT RAINFriday · 80%
→
Sat0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
32
44
A
Sun0%
Mostly sunny; warmer Mostly sunny; warmer
39
55
B
Mon0%
Mostly sunny Mostly sunny
41
59
B
Tue0%
Mostly cloudy Mostly cloudy
44
56
B
Wed20%
Partly cloudy Partly cloudy
38
60
C
Thu10%
Partly cloudy; cooler Partly cloudy; cooler
37
49
C
Fri80%
Showers likely Showers likely
40
55
C
Letters show how sure the forecast is: A, models agree; B, some spread; C, check back. Sample data.
THIS WEEK IN 1999 · NOV. 14, 1999

76°, the hottest this week of the year has been since 1893.

2

What Woonsocket stands on

Woonsocket’s center stands about 1,310 ft above sea level. Within three miles the land runs from 1,290 ft to 1,340 ft, a difference of 50 ft: nearly flat ground.

Woonsocket, west to east Woonsocket1,310 ftHigh point1,490 ftSand Creekabout 1,260 ftBig Mound1,310 ft ← WE → 24 miles through the town center; vertical exaggeration about 122×. Colors: rock at the surface.
Elevation, center1,310 ft
Within 3 miles1,290 to 1,340 ft
Lie of the landNearly flat (50 ft of relief)
Rock at the surfaceNiobrara Formation
Its ageLate Cretaceous, 66 to 100 million years old
5

Woonsocket’s year

Woonsocket has a hot-summer humid continental climate. Summer afternoons average 84° in July; winter nights fall to about 7° in January. A normal year brings about 44 inches of snow; with the rain, that comes to about 26 inches of water.

JANFEBMARAPRMAYJUNJULAUGSEPOCTNOVDEC 1234 25.7 in
July, average84° / 62° · high / low, the warmest month
January, average25° / 7° · high / low, the coldest month
Rain and melted snow25.7 in · wettest months: June and May
Snow a year44.5 in · snowiest: April
Hottest on record111°F · July 16, 2006
Coldest on record−39°F · February 9, 1899
Wettest day on record7.36 in · July 30, 2010
Snowiest day on record15.6 in · January 30, 2001
90° days a year23 · about 2 of them 100° or more
Nights at or below 32°155 · and 67 days that stay below freezing
Climate typeHot-summer humid continental · Köppen Dfa
1Freeze season · from the first fall freeze, about Oct. 9, to the last in spring, about May 1 (median dates)
2Highs below freezing · Dec. 8 to Feb. 22; normal highs stay below 32°
3Lows below freezing · Oct. 25 to April 13; normal lows fall below 32°
4Wettest stretch · May through July: 10.6 of the year’s 25.7 inches
NOVEMBER 14 IN THE RECORD

On November 14 Woonsocket normally reaches 44° and falls to 24°. The record high is 76°, in 1999; the record low −4°, in 2014. The most rain on this date, 0.49 in, fell in 1971.

Normals 1991–2020 and records since 1893 at Wessington Springs, 15 miles west, 400 ft higher. NOAA, through RCC-ACIS.
3

Where the rain goes

≈ 2,150 mito the Gulf of AmericaJames → Missouri → Mississippi

A raindrop that lands in Woonsocket reaches the Gulf of America by way of the James, the Missouri and the Mississippi: about 2,150 river miles.

1,170 miles of the trip are on the Mississippi.