Black Hills Of South Dakota And Their Impacts On The Weather/Climate

Located in the white circle is the Black Hills. The black hills are unique in that they are the highest point east of the Rockies as they extend higher than the entire Appalachians.

The weather associated with this feature is impressive. If you travel about 30 miles east of the slopes you will find vast plains, however these plains could be classified as desert.

The reason is that this region is part of the rain shadow of the hills meaning most of the moisture is stuck west in the hills. This region is known for the winds called the Chinook winds.

In the winter months especially, the winds will kick around and send the air rapidly down the hill and create a rapid warm up and as soon as the winds stop the air gets cold instantly. This region has the world record for the fastest and coldest temps change.

An example was recorded in January of 1943 and to this day is still the record. Spearfish SD, which is along the slope, had a temp of -4F. The winds started to kick up real fast and within 2 minutes the new temp was 45F. About 2hrs later the temp had increased to 54F and within a half an hour of the winds stopping the temp dropped back to -4F.