Rapid City, South Dakota Weather
Cicadas claim the afternoon. Day 14 of summer. Read this microseason across nine climate regions →
Rapid City weather forecast — hour by hour, 7-day outlook, NOAA radar
- TodayJul 4Mostly Clear——89°62°—
- SundayJul 5Clear——98°66°+9°
- MondayJul 6Light Drizzle24%—96°73°-2°
- TuesdayJul 7Light Showers69%0.07″94°65°-2°
- WednesdayJul 8Showers69%0.20″84°63°-10°
- ThursdayJul 9Overcast40%—88°65°+4°
- FridayJul 10Clear21%—84°60°-4°
AQI 71 (Moderate), driven by PM2.5. AQI flat over the last 6 hours (within ±4 points). PM2.5 at 19.1 µg/m³ (AQI 70) with a 0.77 fine-to-coarse ratio and 5 mph wind — combustion smoke trapped in calm air, not road dust.
OK No precautions needed for the general population; unusually sensitive individuals may consider limiting prolonged outdoor exertion.
What's driving it
Ozone × UV × Sky
Ozone at AQI 56 now. With UV 7.6 peaking around 1 PM under clear skies, surface ozone likely climbs to AQI 56 around 1 PM.
- Present
- AQI 56
- UV peak
- 7.6 at 1 PM
- Sky at peak
- clear
- Projected peak
- AQI 56
PM × Wind × Precip
PM2.5 at 19.1 µg/m³ (AQI 70) with a 0.77 fine-to-coarse ratio and 5 mph wind — combustion smoke trapped in calm air, not road dust.
- PM2.5/PM10
- 0.77
- Wind
- light
- Recent rain
- 0h in last 6h
- Pattern
- stagnant smoke
Trends
Seven days of AQI and PM2.5.
Hourly air-quality data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, charted across the past and next several days. Dashed lines mark the AQI breakpoints at 50 (Good → Moderate) and 100 (Moderate → Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups).
If the first of July be rainy weather, 'twill rain more or less for four weeks together.
- Moonrise
- 10:54 PM
- Moonset
- 9:57 AM
- In sign
- ♓︎ Pisces
Cicadas claim the afternoon
Rapid City at a glance
- Today vs. normal: 17°F above the seasonal normal for this latitude
- Last frost: May 10 (climatological average for this latitude)
- Microseason: Jul 1–5
- Planting window: Harvest early potatoes. Begin drying onions on the surface.
ZIP codes: 57701, 57702, 57703
16-Day Forecast — Rapid City
- Sat89°62°4%
- Sun98°66°1%
- Mon96°73°24%
- Tue94°65°69%
- Wed84°63°69%
- Thu88°65°40%
- Fri84°60°21%
- Sat89°57°8%
- Sun97°65°3%
- Mon99°70°9%
- Tue106°73°17%
- Wed107°78°22%
- Thu91°70°28%
- Fri89°66°29%
- Sat86°57°27%
- Sun92°61°26%
Forecast data from Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Live wind & temperature near Rapid City
Right now in the garden
Peak growing season
As of July 4, the growing season is at its peak — frost is months away. Continue succession-planting beans and summer squash. Start fall brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, kale) from seed indoors for transplanting in late summer.
SPC Convective Outlook
Storm Prediction Center — Rapid City
SPC has placed Rapid City in the Marginal Risk category for severe thunderstorms today.
- TODAYMRGLMarginal Risk
- TOMORROWNONENo severe risk
- DAY 3TSTMGeneral Thunderstorms
Isolated severe storms possible. Limited threat for hail or damaging wind.
Source: NOAA / NWS Storm Prediction Center categorical convective outlook. Outlooks are re-issued multiple times per day; this page reflects the most recent SPC polygons covering the city’s coordinates.
ZIP codes in Rapid City
- 57702
- 57703
- 57701