Flood, Brown
- When
- March 25, 5:00 PM CST to March 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Brown forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 45.590, -98.352 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in South Dakota, March 25 to 31, 1997
Snowmelt runoff and ice jamming caused the Elm River to go above flood stage in the early evening of March 25th. 5 feet on March 30th.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS ABR wrote it up.
Snowmelt runoff and ice jamming caused the Elm River to go above flood stage in the early evening of March 25th. The Elm River at Westport rose to 21.5 feet on March 30th. Flood stage at Westport is 14 feet. Most of the town of Westport was flooded and most people were evacuated. Four out of forty families stayed in their homes. Almost every home in Westport received major damage. This was the worst flooding at Westport since 1969. Also, three residences in Ordway were evacuated. At both Westport and Ordway, extensive sandbagging was done to no avail. Flooding on the Elm River continued into early April.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- High Wind in Ohio, March 25, 1997
- Winter Weather in Vermont, March 25, 1997
- Flooding in Minnesota, March 25 to 31, 1997
- High Wind in Montana, March 25, 1997
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 25, 1997
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 25, 1997
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 25, 1997
- Hail in Texas, March 25, 1997
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 25, 1997
- Flash Flood in Texas, March 25, 1997
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 25, 1997
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 25, 1997
More
Every storm in South Dakota in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, March 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5591680.