Memorial Day Climate Information

Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971 and was known as Decoration Day from 1868 to 1970. Below is a listing of the climate records on Memorial Day for Rapid City, Gillette, Lead, Winner, Lemmon, Sundance, Spearfish, Newcastle, Hot Springs, and Custer, as well as the weather in downtown Rapid City and Gillette for the past 10 Memorial Days. Record high temperatures have broken 100 degrees in some places, and record lows have been at or below freezing. Snow on Memorial Day is rare across our area, though Lead received over a foot of snow on Memorial Day of 1996.

In 2023, Memorial Day was warm, with highs in the mid to upper 70s. Severe weather also occurred across the area, with several reports of hail up to half dollar sized and wind gusts to around 60 mph. Last year, mild and mostly dry conditions prevailed, with highs in the 60s to 70s.