Rainfall totals Rapid City, SD
Through Oct 7, 2026, Rapid City has received 11.15 inches of rain for the year, according to the official daily climate report. The normal year-to-date total is 15.60 inches. The normal figure is what the city would typically have seen by this point in the calendar. This reading comes from the station gauge at RAPID CITY in the National Weather Service's daily climate report.
as of
Data from Rapid City Regional Airport, with records back to 1948. Across the record from 1948, 100 percent of days have a reading, with 100 percent in 2025.
Most recent rainfall
0.02 inches of rain fell on Sep 28, 2026, the latest measurable rainfall this year.
RAPID CITY saw no measurable rain on Oct 7, 2026, according to the National Weather Service daily climate report.
Official rainfall report for Oct 7, 2026
| Measured | Normal | vs normal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain on Oct 7, 2026 | 0.00 inches | 0.06 inches | -0.06 inches |
| Last 48 hours | 0.00 inches | ||
| Last 72 hours | 0.00 inches | ||
| Last 7 days | 0.00 inches | ||
| Month to date | 0.00 inches | 0.39 inches | -0.39 inches |
| Year to date | 11.15 inches | 15.60 inches | -4.45 inches (-29%) |
| Record for Oct 7 | 0.48 inches | 1949 |
Source: National Weather Service daily climate report for RAPID CITY, issued the morning after Oct 7, 2026. The local National Weather Service office issues the daily climate report for the airport station the next morning, and that report is the official figure.
How much rain did Rapid City get?
Days with measurable rain, 2026
| Date | Rainfall |
|---|---|
| Sep 28, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Sep 27, 2026 | 0.04 inches |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 0.64 inches |
| Sep 19, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 0.22 inches |
| Sep 17, 2026 | 0.13 inches |
| Sep 14, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Sep 13, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Sep 7, 2026 | 0.06 inches |
| Sep 5, 2026 | 0.08 inches |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 0.03 inches |
| Sep 1, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Aug 24, 2026 | 0.03 inches |
| Aug 23, 2026 | 0.05 inches |
| Aug 22, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Aug 18, 2026 | 0.32 inches |
| Aug 16, 2026 | 1.14 inches |
| Aug 15, 2026 | 0.22 inches |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 0.09 inches |
| Aug 13, 2026 | 0.10 inches |
| Aug 12, 2026 | 0.18 inches |
| Aug 11, 2026 | 0.03 inches |
| Jul 29, 2026 | 0.35 inches |
| Jul 23, 2026 | 0.19 inches |
| Jul 20, 2026 | 0.02 inches |
| Jul 9, 2026 | 0.01 inches |
| Jul 7, 2026 | 0.16 inches |
| Jul 3, 2026 | 0.57 inches |
| Jul 2, 2026 | 0.06 inches |
With 1.84 inches on May 21, 2026, this is the 28th wettest of the 7,497 measurable rain days in the Rapid City Regional Airport record, which begins in 1948.
Through Oct 3, 2026, the GHCN-Daily station record shows 10.94 inches of measurable rain so far this year, falling over a 66-day span. Station observations are from GHCN-Daily, with a 1-3 day lag and quality checks by NOAA.
Rapid City rainfall by month, 2026
| Month | Rainfall | Normal | vs normal |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0.16 inches | 0.31 inches | -0.15 inches |
| February | 0.06 inches | 0.50 inches | -0.44 inches (-88%) |
| March | 0.36 inches | 0.91 inches | -0.55 inches (-60%) |
| April | 1.13 inches | 2.08 inches | -0.95 inches (-46%) |
| May | 3.85 inches | 3.45 inches | +0.40 inches (+12%) |
| June | 0.53 inches | 2.87 inches | -2.34 inches (-82%) |
| July | 1.36 inches | 2.28 inches | -0.92 inches (-40%) |
| August | 2.17 inches | 1.59 inches | +0.58 inches (+36%) |
| September | 1.32 inches | 1.22 inches | +0.10 inches (+8%) |
| October | 0.00 inches | 1.41 inches |
October is still in progress; figures run through Oct 3, 2026. Averages are 1991-2020 normals from NCEI.
Rainfall days at each threshold in Rapid City
| Year | 0.5+ in. | 1+ in. | 2+ in. | 3+ in. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Average | 8.6 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
A day counts when its rainfall total meets or passes the column amount, from Rapid City Regional Airport records in GHCN-Daily. Every complete year starting with 1948 counts toward the average, 77 years in total.
Past rainfall years in Rapid City
All-time rainfall records
| Wettest day | 3.78 inches | Jun 15, 1963 |
|---|---|---|
| Wettest year | 28.43 inches | 2019 |
| Driest year | 9.12 inches | 1974 |
| Average year | 16.59 inches | 77 complete years on record |
| Rain days a year | 96 | average, 0.01 inch or more |
| Record begins | 1948 | 28,621 daily readings |
Monthly rainfall normals
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inches | 0.31 | 0.50 | 0.91 | 2.08 | 3.45 | 2.87 | 2.28 | 1.59 | 1.22 | 1.41 | 0.47 | 0.35 | 17.44 |
Averages are 1991-2020 normals from NCEI.
The daily climate report is issued by the local National Weather Service forecast office and delivered to this page by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet of Iowa State University. Under 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright attaches to the government-produced figures on this page, including reports, alerts, station observations, and normals, which were created by the National Weather Service and other NOAA offices. The notice that 17 U.S.C. 403 requires appears in this sentence. It does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with those agencies. See: Data sources and attribution.