About Us

Area Of Responsibility

Below is an image of all the County Warning Areas (CWA) in the United States.

Station Digest

Do you wonder what it would be like to work here?  Check out our Station Digest.

National Weather Service History

Local History

The "Weather Service" in Rapid City have a long history. We have compiled a brief synopsis of events since 1888.

January 1st, 1888

The first Weather Service Office in Rapid City was opened on January 1, 1888. It was located in the Sweeney Building at the corner of 7th and Main Streets. The arrows in the photo point to the weather instruments. The Sweeney Building was destroyed by fire May 8, 1997.

January 1, 1897

Picture courtesy of Minnilusa Historical Association, Journey Museum, Rapid City

On January 1, 1897 the station was moved to the Lakota Building on the corner of 7th and St. Joseph Streets, one block south of the Sweeney Building. This building is currently known as the Buell Building.

May 13th, 1914

This picture was taken in 1932.

On May 13, 1914 the Weather Office was moved to the former Federal Building on the corner of 8th and St. Joseph.

Weather Observation Equipment 1932

This was essentially the weather equipment (located on the roof of the Federal Building). At first weather observations were taken only twice daily. Then, beginning in the mid 1930's this was increased to four times daily, and in 1939 it was increased again to hourly around the clock.

Weather Instruments 1932

This is a picture of the instruments on top of the Federal Building. You can see the wind direction and wind speed system in the foreground. The silver buckets in the background are for rain measurements.  The black instrument next to the wind system is unknown.

First Airport Station 1939

So that aviation as well as the general public could be served, the first airport station was established on January 19, 1939 at the former airport (now Ellsworth Air Force Base).

From January 1939 until August 1942, personnel were stationed at both the city office and the airport office. In 1942 all activities were consolidated at the airport office.

October 5th, 1950

On October 5, 1950 the Weather Station was moved to the Administration Building at the Municipal Airport, which is about 10 miles east-southeast of Rapid City.

Collecting Upper-Air Data in 1963

Two times a day the staff at the Weather Station released a weather balloon. While this balloon was in flight various atmospheric measurements were taken.

The piece of equipment in this picture was used to track and plot the balloons flight. The person sitting at the equipment has recently retired from our office. This picture was taken in August, 1963.

Rapid City Flood of 1972

The Flood of Rapid City occurred on June 9, 1972. This flood caused extensive damage in Rapid city and the outlying towns. Totals included 238 deaths, 5 missing, 3,087 injured including, 118 hospitalized, 770 permanent homes and 565 mobile homes were destroyed, 2,035 permanent homes and 785 mobile homes were damaged. Total damage throughout the Black Hills was 165 million dollars.

This picture was taken on the corner of East Boulevard North and Omaha street. This was the location of Frontier Ford which is now McKie Ford.

It was estimated that the amount of rain that fell in the flood of 1972 was equivalent to 14.5 Pactola Reservoirs, or 800,000 acre feet. Put in a simpler way 1 million metric tons of water fell in the Black Hills area.

This picture was taken on Chapel Lane where Rapid Creek enters Canyon Lake.

Doppler Radar 1995

In December 1995 the National Weather Service Office in Rapid City became the proud new owner of a WSR-88D Doppler Radar. This radar greatly enhances our ability to detect and track thunderstorms and other weather phenomena.

Balloon Release 1995

In November, 1995 the Upper Air tracking set was moved from the Airport Office to our City Office. This equipment is used to track the weather balloons which are launched twice daily.

Office 1995

In November, 1995 the Weather Station was moved from the Airport Office to its current location. The land was donated to the Weather Service by the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. All services were consolidated in the City Office on November 11, 1995.

ASOS

This is the Automated Surface Observing System. This system automatically measures wind speed and direction, rainfall accumulation, visibility, present weather conditions (rain, snow, fog, haze, etc.), and pressure. This information is then automatically transmitted to the National Weather Service main computer systems for dissemination.

August 1996

In August 1996, the WSR-74C Radar was turned off for the last time. In July 1976, this person turned the WSR-74C on for the first time.

June, 2009

There have been many improvements to our Doppler Radar since 1995. Here, we find one of our Electronics Technicians tuning the radar and a picture of the radar tower.

October 3-5, 2013 Historic Blizzard

An iconic image of our office on October 4, 2013 during the historic Fall blizzard. Additional information about the blizzard is available.