South Dakota Weather

South Dakota climate

South Dakota has a continental climate with wide temperature extremes, ranging from summer highs well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit to winter lows far below zero. The state is divided into distinct climate regions: the more humid eastern prairies and the semi-arid western plains and Black Hills. Pierre, one of the least-visited state capitals, has a climate marked by low humidity, ample sunshine, and strong temperature contrasts between seasons.

The Black Hills in western South Dakota create their own weather patterns, receiving significantly more precipitation than the surrounding plains and supporting dense forests in an otherwise grassland landscape. Rapid City, at the base of the Black Hills, has experienced some of the most rapid temperature changes in recorded history — on January 22, 1943, the temperature rose 49 degrees in just two minutes due to a Chinook wind event.

Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes affect the eastern part of the state during summer, while blizzards are the dominant winter hazard across all of South Dakota. The state averages about 30 tornadoes per year. The deadly Rapid City flood of 1972, caused by an extreme thunderstorm stalling over the Black Hills, killed 238 people and remains one of the worst flash flood disasters in U.S. history.