Box Elder

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Pennington County, the county that contains Box Elder.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Pennington County, the county that contains Box Elder.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Pennington County, the county that contains Box Elder.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Aug 30, 2013Hail$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm developed near Piedmont and moved slowly southeastward across the Rapid City area and the eastern foothills of the Black Hills. The storm produced very large hail, which caused significant property damage from Johnson Siding and Hisega to Rapid City. The storm also spawned a very brief tornado over prairie land east of Hermosa. Runoff from the slow moving thunderstorm caused street flooding in Rapid City and Rapid Creek to quickly rise into the greenway through town.

2. Aug 30, 2013Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail caused extensive damage to homes and vehicles on the west side of Rapid City.

3. Aug 30, 2013Hail$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hail to the size of golf balls fell at the Rapid City National Weather Service office and across much of east Rapid City.

4. Jul 20, 2013Hail$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail damaged automobiles and property in the area.

5. Aug 11, 2013Hail$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Golf ball size hail was reported from Hill City to Palmer Gulch southeast of town, causing extensive damage to vehicles and property.

6. Jul 20, 2013Hail$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large hail damaged vehicles and property in the area.

7. Mar 23, 2009Blizzard, Pennington Co Plains$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A powerful spring storm brought rain, snow, and very strong winds to western South Dakota. Precipitation started as rain, then changed to snow, and blizzard conditions developed. The heaviest snow fell over the northern Black Hills, where 18 to 48 inches of snow was measured. Ten to 20 inches of snow fell across far northwestern South Dakota, with drifts as high as ten feet. Most other locations received at least six inches of snow. Sustained winds of 30 to 55 mph, with gusts over 80 mph, were reported. Interstate 90 and other highways were closed for more than 24 hours. Some power outages were reported, mainly across the northern Black Hills and northwestern South Dakota. Tens of…

8. Jul 20, 2013Hail$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A thunderstorm became severe west of Rapid City and moved east-northeast, dropping large hail over the western, central, and northern portions of the city and causing extensive property damage. It weakened as it moved onto the plains.

9. Apr 18, 2006Winter Storm, Northern Black Hills$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major spring storm moved across the Central and Northern Plains, bringing significant amounts of rain and snow and gusty winds to much of western South Dakota. Snowfall was heaviest across the northern and central Black Hills, as well as far northwest South Dakota, where 1 to 2 feet fell. Favored upslope areas of the northern Black Hills received 2 to 5 feet of snow. Strong northwest winds gusting to 60 mph, created blizzard conditions across Harding, Butte, and Lawrence counties. Drifts to 15 feet high were reported across Harding and Butte counties. Power poles and trees were downed by the combination of heavy wet snow and wind, which resulted in widespread and prolonged power…

10. May 21, 2019Flood$2.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Runoff from heavy rain caused overland flooding and flooding along Rapid Creek, Box Elder Creek, Spring Creek, and tributaries of the Cheyenne River. A culvert washed out on Nike Road east of the Cobalt Drive intersection, water covered South Ellsworth Road south of Highway 14-16, 154th Avenue near 233rd Street, Creston Road south of SD Highway 44, Base Line Road south of Wasta, Bear Creek Road from SD Highway 44 to Sage Creek Road, and Paulson Road near Quinn. Several roads were inundated between Box Elder and New Underwood; including 155th avenue, 156th Avenue, 159th Avenue, and Sharpe Road. Street flooding was also reported in Rapid City and Rapid Valley along South Valley…

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

112°FJul 25, 2026

All-time low

−31°FFeb 2, 1996

Warmest night

75°F2 times, most recently Jul 8, 1985

Coldest day

−18°FFeb 2, 1989

Wettest day

3.78 inJun 15, 1963

Snowiest day

20.0 inApr 9, 2013

Hottest year

2012mean 50.4°F

Coldest year

2019mean 43.2°F

Wettest year

201928.43 in

Driest year

19749.12 in

Station Rapid City Regional Airport (USW00024090), 3,162 ft elevation, 4.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 27, 2026; 100.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Pennington County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00024090.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.