Editing Spearfish, South Dakota (section)

==Climate==
Given its location at the base of the [[Black Hills]] and its proximity to the [[High Plains (United States)|High Plains]], the climate in Spearfish is highly variable at any time of the year, a phenomenon especially apparent in the winter months. According to the [[Köppen climate classification]], Spearfish has [[humid continental climate]] (''Dfb'').  Snow depth is limited: even in winter half of all days have no snow on the ground, although on average {{convert|29.5|in|m|2|disp=or|sp=us}} of snow falls.

{{Weather box
|location = Spearfish, South Dakota (1991–2020 normals; extremes 1893–present)
|single line = Y
|Jan record high F = 79
|Feb record high F = 75
|Mar record high F = 82
|Apr record high F = 91
|May record high F = 96
|Jun record high F = 105
|Jul record high F = 110
|Aug record high F = 104
|Sep record high F = 105
|Oct record high F = 95
|Nov record high F = 85
|Dec record high F = 73
|year record high F = 110
|Jan avg record high F = 59.7
|Feb avg record high F = 59.9
|Mar avg record high F = 69.8
|Apr avg record high F = 78.8
|May avg record high F = 85.0
|Jun avg record high F = 93.4
|Jul avg record high F = 98.1
|Aug avg record high F = 96.7
|Sep avg record high F = 93.1
|Oct avg record high F = 82.1
|Nov avg record high F = 68.0
|Dec avg record high F = 60.2
|year avg record high F = 100.0
|Jan high F = 35.9
|Feb high F = 36.9
|Mar high F = 45.8
|Apr high F = 54.9
|May high F = 64.3
|Jun high F = 75.3
|Jul high F = 83.6
|Aug high F = 82.9
|Sep high F = 74.0
|Oct high F = 58.1
|Nov high F = 45.9
|Dec high F = 37.2
|year high F = 57.9
|Jan mean F = 25.8
|Feb mean F = 26.6
|Mar mean F = 35.0
|Apr mean F = 43.5
|May mean F = 53.1
|Jun mean F = 63.3
|Jul mean F = 70.6
|Aug mean F = 69.5
|Sep mean F = 60.8
|Oct mean F = 46.8
|Nov mean F = 35.7
|Dec mean F = 27.3
|year mean F = 46.5
|Jan low F = 15.7
|Feb low F = 16.3
|Mar low F = 24.2
|Apr low F = 32.0
|May low F = 41.8
|Jun low F = 51.3
|Jul low F = 57.6
|Aug low F = 56.1
|Sep low F = 47.6
|Oct low F = 35.4
|Nov low F = 25.6
|Dec low F = 17.5
|year low F = 35.1
|Jan avg record low F = -7.7
|Feb avg record low F = -4.8
|Mar avg record low F = 3.6
|Apr avg record low F = 17.9
|May avg record low F = 30.7
|Jun avg record low F = 43.0
|Jul avg record low F = 50.4
|Aug avg record low F = 47.1
|Sep avg record low F = 36.0
|Oct avg record low F = 18.5
|Nov avg record low F = 4.9
|Dec avg record low F = -4.3
|year avg record low F = -14.4
|Jan record low F = −32
|Feb record low F = −33
|Mar record low F = −27
|Apr record low F = −8
|May record low F = 11
|Jun record low F = 25
|Jul record low F = 33
|Aug record low F = 32
|Sep record low F = 15
|Oct record low F = −7
|Nov record low F = −23
|Dec record low F = −30
|year record low F = −33
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 0.60
|Feb precipitation inch = 0.91
|Mar precipitation inch = 1.19
|Apr precipitation inch = 2.23
|May precipitation inch = 3.72
|Jun precipitation inch = 3.51
|Jul precipitation inch = 2.35
|Aug precipitation inch = 1.88
|Sep precipitation inch = 1.56
|Oct precipitation inch = 2.04
|Nov precipitation inch = 0.70
|Dec precipitation inch = 0.72
|year precipitation inch = 21.41
|Jan snow inch = 8.2
|Feb snow inch = 12.7
|Mar snow inch = 12.0
|Apr snow inch = 8.5
|May snow inch = 2.3
|Jun snow inch = 0.0
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 0.1
|Oct snow inch = 5.5
|Nov snow inch = 6.3
|Dec snow inch = 14.9
|year snow inch = 70.5
|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
|Jan precipitation days = 6.7
|Feb precipitation days = 6.8
|Mar precipitation days = 6.4
|Apr precipitation days = 9.0
|May precipitation days = 11.8
|Jun precipitation days = 12.3
|Jul precipitation days = 9.4
|Aug precipitation days = 7.1
|Sep precipitation days = 5.9
|Oct precipitation days = 7.1
|Nov precipitation days = 5.2
|Dec precipitation days = 5.0
|year precipitation days = 92.7
|unit snow days = 0.1 in
|Jan snow days = 5.1
|Feb snow days = 4.6
|Mar snow days = 3.3
|Apr snow days = 2.1
|May snow days = 0.4
|Jun snow days = 0.0
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.1
|Oct snow days = 1.3
|Nov snow days = 3.1
|Dec snow days = 4.3
|year snow days = 24.3
|source 1 = [[NOAA]]<ref name= NOAA>
{{cite web|title=NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data |url=https://www.weather.gov/wrh/Climate?wfo=unr |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=October 28, 2021}}</ref><ref name=NCEI>
{{cite web|title=Station: Spearfish, SD |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00397882&format=pdf |work=U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020) |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=October 28, 2021}}</ref>
}}

===World record temperature change===
Spearfish holds the world record for the fastest recorded temperature change. On January 22, 1943, at about 7:30 a.m. [[Mountain Time Zone|MST]], the temperature in Spearfish was {{convert|−4|°F}}. The [[Chinook wind]] picked up speed rapidly, and two minutes later (7:32 a.m.) the temperature was {{convert|+45|°F}}. The {{convert|49|F-change|C-change|disp=or}} rise in two minutes set a world record that still holds. By 9:00 a.m., the temperature had risen to {{convert|54|°F}}. Suddenly, the Chinook died down and the temperature tumbled back to {{convert|−4|°F|°C|disp=or}}. The {{convert|58|F-change|C-change|1|disp=or}} drop took only 27 minutes.<ref>[http://www.crh.noaa.gov/fsd/?n=fsdtrivia01 "South Dakota Weather History and Trivia January"]. – [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]'s [[National Weather Service]].<br>—Appendix I: – [http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sgx/research/Guide/weatherextremes.pdf "Weather Extremes"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528065516/http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sgx/research/Guide/weatherextremes.pdf |date=May 28, 2008}}. – [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]. – (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document).</ref><ref>Parker, Watson (1981). – ''Deadwood: The Golden Years''. – Lincoln, Nebraska: The University of Nebraska. – p.158. – {{ISBN|978-0-8032-8702-0}}.</ref><ref name="The Black Hills Remarkable Temperature Change of January 22, 1943">{{cite web |title=The Black Hills Remarkable Temperature Change of January 22, 1943 |url=https://www.weather.gov/unr/1943-01-22 |website=Weather.gov |access-date=April 11, 2020}}</ref> The sudden change in temperatures caused glass windows to crack and windshields to instantly frost over.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crh.noaa.gov/unr/?n=01-22-43-spearfish-temperatures|title=Rapid City, SD|first=US Department of Commerce, NOAA, National Weather|last=Service|access-date=March 28, 2017}}</ref><ref name="The Black Hills Remarkable Temperature Change of January 22, 1943" />

Extreme winter maxima in the district are remarkably warm given the latitude and altitude; on January 19, 1921, Spearfish reached a temperature of {{convert|79|F}}, the hottest January temperature in South Dakota on record.<ref>{{cite web|title=South Dakota: Temperature Extremes |url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0930254.html |access-date=March 28, 2017}}</ref>