relocating to custer /hot springs sd area (Rapid City, Hermosa: school, living)

[mommabeeps]

Hi there, I am curious as to the weather around the custer / hot springs area. Especially the winters. I am from wisconsin and we have pretty crappy winters, long and sometimes very cold. Do you have a lot of below zeros? I am looking to relocate there this spring or summer. I have been thru that area a few times but it was in the summer months. I fell in love with it and wanted to just stay there forever! Just trying to find out as much as possible about that area before I make any permanent decisions!

[Dick13]

C'mon out! The weather is fine. Hot Springs is normally a little warmer in the winter than Rapid or Custer, but all of them are in a banana belt. A Banana belt is the leeward side of a mountain or mountain range such as the Black Hills. The tougher winter storms generally come out of the west, northwest, or north. The Black Hills will shove those storms towards the atmosphere and give shelter to the east side. Rapid, Hermosa, Custer, & Hot Springs all benefit from that phenomonen. Especially Hot Springs. I moved out her from Wisconsin about 10 yrs ago and love the climate. We can get and do get storms from the southwest, but they are normally not very cold. They can deliver decent amounts of snow, but not like Wisconsin.

[thehelferfamily]

Custer is a beautiful area! We relocated here from WA state over 7 years ago and LOVE it, however winters here are TOUGH. We were told the same thing about the banana belt and I would say for sure Hot Springs fits into that but NOT Custer. We are typically 10-15 degrees cooler than Hot Springs all seasons.....we have many days in the winter below zero and wind chills even colder. Snow can arrive as early as October and last year we even had 12+ of snow on the last day of school?!?!? Granted that snow melted quickly but it was crazy telling family in other states that our girls last day of school had a 2 hour delay due to snow . The town itself is small and very touristy but beautiful scenery abounds if you love the outdoors! All of the tourist shops pretty much close up end of September and will reopen around mid-April. Lots of jobs available in the summer but full time work year round can be a challenge. Rapid City is about 45 minutes away and offers all the big name stores (Walmart, Target, Lowes, etc) for shopping. Overall we have loved living here, friendly people, conservative politics for the most part and a great community to be part of. Good luck in your decision!!