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SKYWARN · South Dakota · Wyoming

NWS Rapid City UNR

19 counties, 1 radar, one forecaster on the warning desk when it goes bad. This page is what that desk is looking at, plus the nets that feed it.

1 active · 0 warnings

NWS checked 11:28 PM
  • Wind AdvisoryModerate · NPWUNR · until Fri 5:00 AM
    Harding; Northern Perkins; Butte; Northern Meade Co Plains; Ziebach; Rapid City; Custer Co Plains; Pennington Co Plains; Haakon; Northern Oglala Lakota; Northern Jackson; Sturgis/Piedmont Foothills; Southern Meade Co Plains; Southern Jackson; Southern Perkins

Radar

NWS RIDGE · base reflectivity · last hour
KUDX radar loop

Deeper look: KUDX interactive ↗ · KUDX at College of DuPage ↗ - velocity, correlation coefficient and every tilt.

Satellite

GOES-East · UMV sector · GeoColor
GOES-East · UMV sector · GeoColor satellite image

NOAA STAR · updates every 5 min · all bands ↗

SPC outlook · day 1

categorical
SPC day 1 convective outlook

Marginal → Slight → Enhanced → Moderate → High · day 2 ↗ · mesoscale discussions ↗

Reports taken by this office today

0 · SPC preliminary
No spotter reports logged by UNR so far today (UTC).

Cameras near the office

none listed yet
No cameras listed near Rapid City yet. Know one?

Radar tells you what the storm is doing; these tell you what it looks like. Pictures open at their source - ODOT and the Mesonet allow linking, not republishing.

SKYWARN & weather nets for this office

Suggest or fix one →
No net is listed for NWS Rapid City yet. If you know the repeater and who runs it, suggest it - the state coordinator checks it and it shows up here and on the state hub. Never guess a frequency from memory; a wrong one during a warning is worse than none.

Citizen weather stations nearby

1 reporting within 200 mi · APRS, last 2 h
StationTempHumWindGustRain 24 hPressureDist
KE0QIB51°77%calm1-1004.414 mi

Heard on APRS-IS, receive only. These are privately owned stations reporting themselves — treat them as a hint about what the air is doing between the official sites, not as verified observations. Wind and gust are mph. See them on the map →

NOAA Weather Radio in this area

16 transmitters · this office’s first, neighbours after
162.450 MHz KXI59 · Philipcovers Haakon, Jackson, Pennington (ALL), Pennington (EAST) · 1000 W · NWS Rapid City
162.500 MHz KZZ59 · Porcupinecovers Bennett, Jackson (S), Oglala Lakota (ALL) · 1000 W · NWS Rapid City
162.475 MHz WNG557 · Faithcovers Meade (ALL), Meade (NORTH), Perkins, Ziebach · 1000 W · NWS Rapid City
162.550 MHz WNG558 · White Rivercovers Jones, Mellette, Todd · 1000 W · NWS Rapid City
162.500 MHz WNG660 · Gillettecovers Campbell (NORTH), Campbell (CENTRAL), Campbell (SOUTH), Crook, Weston · 1000 W · NWS Rapid City
162.475 MHz WNG661 · Newcastlecovers Niobrara (W), Weston (W) · 300 W · NWS Rapid City
162.425 MHz WXK64 · Hot Springscovers Custer, Fall River · 300 W · NWS Rapid City
162.525 MHz WXL23 · Leadcovers Butte, Harding, Lawrence, Pennington (ALL), Pennington (WEST) · 300 W · NWS Rapid City
162.550 MHz WXM63 · Rapid Citycovers Custer, Meade (ALL), Meade (WEST), Meade (SOUTH), Pennington (ALL), Pennington (WEST), Pennington (CENTRAL), Pennington (EAST) · 1000 W · NWS Rapid City
162.525 MHz KZZ60 · Reliancecovers Brule, Buffalo, Gregory, Hand, Hughes, Hyde, Lyman, Tripp · 1000 W · NWS Aberdeen
162.425 MHz WNG551 · Firesteelcovers Corson, Dewey, Ziebach · 1000 W · NWS Aberdeen
162.525 MHz WNG658 · Scrantoncovers Harding, Perkins · 1000 W · NWS Bismarck
162.550 MHz WXK57 · Bakercovers Harding (NW) · 300 W · NWS Billings
162.400 MHz WXL76 · Merrimancovers Bennett · 800 W · NWS North Platte
162.475 MHz WXM46 · Sheridancovers Campbell, Johnson, Sheridan · 500 W · NWS Billings
162.450 MHz WXN82 · Valentinecovers Todd, Tripp (S) · 1000 W · NWS North Platte

What to report, and where

Size charts and the full guide →
🌪️ Tornado, funnel, wall cloud
  • ·Tornado on the ground (say if you see debris)
  • ·Funnel cloud - rotating, not touching down
  • ·Wall cloud, especially a rotating one
  • ·Where it is relative to you, and which way it's moving
🧊 Hail
  • ·The largest stone, compared to a coin or ball (chart below)
  • ·1″ (quarter) is the severe threshold - smaller is still worth a report to most offices
  • ·How long it fell and whether it's covering the ground
💨 Wind
  • ·Measured gusts of 40 mph+; 58 mph is severe
  • ·Damage: trees down, limbs bigger than your arm, roof or structure damage, power lines
  • ·Say whether it was measured or estimated
🌊 Flooding
  • ·Water over a road, especially moving water
  • ·Creeks and rivers rising fast or out of their banks
  • ·Rainfall of 1″ or more in an hour if you have a gauge
❄️ Winter
  • ·Snowfall of 1″ an hour or more, and totals
  • ·Freezing rain and ice accumulation on wires and trees
  • ·Visibility under ¼ mile, blowing and drifting
🚫 Not this
  • ·Lightning and thunder on their own
  • ·Rain that isn't causing flooding
  • ·Ordinary dark clouds, scud, or clouds that only look scary
  1. 1 · The net, if one is up

    When the office activates SKYWARN, a net control on the local repeater takes reports in a set format and relays them straight to the forecaster. Listen first, check in when asked, keep it short: who, what, where, when.

  2. 2 · The office directly

    No net running? Every office has a spotter line or online report form on its SKYWARN page - for you that’s NWS Rapid City. Trained spotters get the number in class; anyone can use the form.

  3. 3 · Tell the room here

    /report hail quarter · 71st & Memorial in #sd-wx puts it in front of everyone watching the state. It does not reach the NWS - do 1 or 2 for that.

Counties served by NWS Rapid City · 19
SDC007 Bennett
SDC019 Butte
SDC033 Custer
SDC047 Fall River
SDC055 Haakon
SDC063 Harding
SDC071 Jackson
SDC081 Lawrence
SDC093 Meade
SDC095 Mellette
SDC102 Oglala Lakota
SDC103 Pennington
SDC105 Perkins
SDC121 Todd
SDC123 Tripp
SDC137 Ziebach
WYC005 Campbell
WYC011 Crook
WYC045 Weston