Multi-day, Potentially Catastrophic Heavy Rainfall and Severe Weather Event

A multi-day, potentially historic heavy rainfall event may produce catastrophic and life-threatening flooding through Saturday from the Ozarks into the Ohio River Valley. Several clusters of strong to severe storms are expected from the Southern Plains, Mid Mississippi Valley to the Ohio/Tennessee Valleys and the Mid Atlantic. Read More >

Overview

May of 2019 rewrote the record books across western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. Continuing the cold and wet trend of early spring, May was characterized by repeated bouts with well below normal temperatures and heavy snow, including snow on some days in late May for the first time on record. Rapid snowmelt and heavy rain late in the month also contributed to widespread flooding issues, including record crests on portions of the Cheyenne and White rivers in western South Dakota.

Here, we provide statistics on the monthly average temperatures and precipitation totals for downtown Rapid City and several cooperative observer sites across the area, including where May 2019 ranks in the record books. On the other tabs, we provide lists of all daily temperature and precipitation records set at these sites throughout May and a list of the preliminary record river crests during the month.

Monthly Rankings
Daily Temperature Records
Daily Precipitation Records
Preliminary Record River Crests

May 2019 monthly rankings compared to records for numerous sites across western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming

Note: A prior version of this graphic had incorrect values for Hill City. We apologize for any inconvenience.