2007 Weather Review

Drought Continues Despite More Rain

Generally, more precipitation fell in 2007 than during 2006 with the exception of the Black Hills, Rapid City, and adjacent plains to the east. About half of the weather observing sites—mainly those in northeastern Wyoming, the northern Black Hills, and south central South Dakota—had above normal precipitation. However, much of the region still suffers from a significant precipitation shortfall, with some locations more than 30 inches below normal through the last eight years (see table at the bottom of the page).

Precipitation amounts ranged from 33.52 inches at Deadwood and 32.20 inches at Lead to 10.39 inches at 12W Hereford and 11.00 inches at Oglala. Departures from normal varied from a 9.24 inch surplus at 14S Mission to a 5.7 inch deficit at Mount Rushmore.

The station at 14S Mission had its third wettest year with 28.14 inches of precipitation. Winner measured 32.01 inches of precipitation for its fifth highest annual total. Gillette received 20.59 inches of precipitation, which was the eighth wettest year on record.

Most of last winter’s storms missed the Black Hills region as they tracked from the Central Rockies across the Midwest. A spring storm left over a foot of snow around Gillette on March 28-29.

The region’s first widespread rain fell May 4-5; as much as four inches of rain caused minor flooding across northeastern Wyoming, the northern Black Hills, and parts of south central South Dakota. More heavy rain in late May and early June flooded streams in the northern Black Hills and Belle Fourche area.

After a brief dry spell, rainfall increased again during the late summer. August precipitation averaged 150 to 200 percent of normal across the region. Both 14S Mission and Winner had the wettest August on record.

Although autumn is typically a dry time of year, November was exceptionally dry. Precipitation was only 15 to 30 percent of normal and ten locations measured no precipitation during the month.

Several storms in December left a blanket of snow across the region, giving many locations their first white Christmas in several years. The heaviest snowfall measured eight to 15 inches in the northern Black Hills on December 21.

Severe Storms

Thunderstorm season was much more active than previous years and started early when large hail fell over central South Dakota on March 28.

Hail caused considerable damage during the summer. A storm dropped baseball to softball sized hail along the Wyoming-Montana border into Butte County, South Dakota on June 25. Large hail damaged cars and accumulated eight inches deep in Hill City and at Wind Cave on July 18. Another storm with softball sized hail smashed windows and damaged roofs in southern Rapid City and Hermosa neighborhoods on August 3.

On August 17, severe thunderstorms developed along the eastern slopes of the Black Hills. Four to six inches of rain caused flash flooding in Hermosa where several homes were swept from their foundations. In Piedmont, softball sized hail and heavy rain damaged buildings and flooded Interstate 90.

The strongest thunderstorm wind gusts measured 90 to 100 mph at Union Center on June 24. During the year’s most widespread thunderstorm outbreak on July 9, wind gusts reached 80 mph across much of western South Dakota.

A total of eight tornadoes were sighted in 2007. The first tornado on May 20 caused minor damage to ranch buildings southwest of Gillette. Campbell County, Wyoming had three more tornadoes during May and early June. A tornado near Kyle, South Dakota remained on the ground for 25 minutes but caused just minor damage. The final tornado of the season touched down briefly southwest of Mission on August 3.

Some thunderstorms produced lightning which ignited fires that were spread quickly by strong winds. The most serious lightning-caused fire was the Alabaugh Canyon Fire near Hot Springs that burned more than thirty homes, killed one person, and injured two firefighters on July 7.

Strong Chinook winds developed during the evening of November 12, with gusts clocked to 87 mph near Spearfish.

Highs and Lows

The winter was fairly mild, with only one cold spell in mid-February. Low temperatures fell to 15 to 30 below zero and bottomed out at -38 degrees at Hoover on the 15th.

Temperatures warmed dramatically during the spring, with sixteen observing locations recording the warmest March on record. The Rapid City airport set records for both the warmest average temperature and the warmest day ever in March.

July saw many high temperatures above 100 degrees, but averaged just shy of 2006. One exception was the Rapid City Regional Airport, where the average temperature surpassed the record set last year.

Rapid City Regional Airport Statistics

The average temperature was 49.5 degrees, the fourth warmest year on record. The earliest 100 degree temperature was June 23 and the latest was August 13. Fourteen days reached 100 degrees. Rapid City’s highest temperature of the year was 109 degrees on July 7. The lowest temperature of the year was -21 degrees on February 15.

Precipitation for the year was 12.61 inches, which was 4.03 inches below normal.

Temperature Extremes

Station

High

Date(s)

Low

Date(s)

Buffalo

106

July 23

-21

February 15

Cottonwood

111

July 8,  August 14

-33

February 15

Deadwood

98

August 13

-12

February 14, 15

Faith

107

July 7

-21

February 15

Gillette

101

July 22

-17

February 2, 15

Interior

108

June 26, July 25, 26

-22

February 15

Pine Ridge

108

June 25

-32

February 15

Philip

110

August 13

-28

February 15

Rapid City Airport

109

July 7

-21

February 15

Winner

105

August 14

-18

February 15 

Precipitation Extremes

Station

Rainfall

Date

Snowfall

Date

Buffalo *

1.10

July 18

Not available

Cottonwood

1.67

May 6

5.1

February 13

Deadwood

3.26

June 1

9.6

March 29

Faith

3.12

July 26

5.0

February 12

Gillette

2.00

May 6

6.5

March 29

Interior

3.95

May 5

6.0

February 12

Pine Ridge *

1.02

July 25

Not available

Philip *

1.52

May 5

Not available

Rapid City Airport

1.61

May 5

4.5

February 12

Winner

1.68

May 5

10.0

February 24 

* Data is from the automated weather station

 Regional Precipitation Data 

South Dakota Stations Normal 2007 Actual Departure from Normal 2006 Departure Change from 2006 2000-2007 Departure
Bison 17.33 16.84 -0.49 -4.81 4.32 -10.8
Camp Crook 14.33 16.7 2.37 -3.22 5.59 -8.2
Cedar Butte 19.36 25.96 6.6 -2.78 9.38 -7.36
Cottonwood 2E 16.91 12.91 -4 -4.42 0.42 -23.96
Custer 18.47 20.99 2.52 0.56 1.96 -7.57
Deadwood 2NE 28.33 33.52 5.19 7.76 -2.57 9.94
Dupree 16.5 19.46 2.96 -5.32 8.28 -9.96
Dupree 15SSE 17.45 19.2 1.75 -6.59 8.34 -17.84
Edgemont   16.26 14.71 -1.55 -4.96 3.41 -11.22
Elm Springs 3ESE 17.06 13.45 -3.61 -4.59 0.98 -17.37
Faith 16.37 19.84 3.47 -1.27 4.74 -0.61
Fort Meade 20.45 21.76 1.31 -0.78 2.09 -18.56
Glad Valley 2W 17.52 17.09 -0.43 -6.6 6.17 -17.14
Hermosa 3SSW 16.59 14.52 -2.07 -0.04 -2.03 -21.15
Hill City 21.06 16.45 -4.61 -3.52 -1.09 -24
Hot Springs 17.35 14.59 -2.76 -3.64 0.88 -19.9
Interior 18.01 16.83 -1.18 -4.88 3.7 -18.15
Lead 28.45 30.71 2.26 4.91 -2.65 -5.88
Lemmon 18.2 17.56 -0.64 -5.86 5.22 -23.49
Long Valley 17.85 22.41 4.56 -1.17 5.73 2.09
Martin 18.71 19.41 0.34 -3.48 4.18 -8.29
Milesville 5NE 19.56 17.54 -2.02 -5.27 3.25 -18.34
Mission 20.87 21.62 0.75 -2.61 3.36 -9.12
Mission 14S 18.9 28.14 9.24 -0.31 9.55 8.86
Mount Rushmore 21.35 15.65 -5.7 -1.89 -3.81 -21.04
Newell 15.56 14.78 -0.78 -2.82 2.04 -21.1
Oelrichs 16.91 12.69 -4.22 -2.21 -2.01 -12.56
Pactola Dam 20.39 16.07 -4.32 -2.62 -1.7 -21.78
Rapid City Airport 16.64 12.61 -4.03 -4.91 0.88 -30.54
Rapid City NWS 19.36 16.09 -3.27 -2.72 -0.55 -23.5
Red Owl 16.09 18.32 2.23 -3.25 5.48 1.73
Redig 11NE 15.42 15.48 -0.14 -4.18 4.24 -10.77
Spearfish 22.25 21.01 -1.24 -4.02 2.78 -32.42
Winner 23.7 32.01 8.31 -6.03 14.34 -24.7
Wood 18.85 23.13 4.28 -1.48 5.76 8.16
 
Wyoming Stations Normal 2007 Actual Departure from Normal 2006 Departure Change from 2006 2000-2007 Departure
Devils Tower 17.64 20.87 2.43 1.72 1.51 -7.66
Dillinger 14.67 14.89 0.22 -2.83 3.05 -10.34
Gillette 6SE 17.14 21.1 3.96 -6.8 10.76 -18.66
Hulett 16.9 20.81 3.91 -0.34 4.25 -4.56
Newcastle 16.04 15.53 -0.51 -1.31 0.8 -6.82
Sundance 18.78 15.78 -3 0.46 -3.46 -18.59
Upton 14.95 14.45 -0.5 0.12 -0.62 -8.96
Wright 12W 11 15.8 4.8 -1.13 5.93 7.27
COLOR KEY
Red text indicates data includes Jan through Nov 2007 More than 3 inches above normal Above Normal
0-3 inches above normal 0-5 inches below normal
0-2 inches below normal 5 -10 inches below normal
2-4 inches below normal 10 -15 inches below normal
4-6 inches below normal 15 -20 inches below normal
More than 6 inches below normal More than 20 inches below normal



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