Custer nearly five inches over precipitation average

If you’ve been mowing your lawn more often and noticing the Hills are especially green for this time of year, you’re not alone. Yes, Custer County—and most of the Black Hills, for that matter—has been getting a great deal of precipitation since May.
Judging from the forecast, it’s a trend that doesn’t seem like it’s going to end anytime soon.
Since Jan. 1, Custer County has received 14.5 inches of precipitation, well above the average of 10.48 normally received by this time of year.
In fact, Custer has been above-average for precipitation each month this year with the exception of April. In January .79 inches of precipitation was received, compared to the historical average of .33. In February it was .73 inches compared to an average of .67, while 2.40 was received in March, as compared to the average of 1.03.
April saw one inch of precipitation received , down over an inch from the average of 2.04, but May more than made up for that as 4.68 inches was received, ahead of the monthly average of 3.58. For June, 4.87 inches were received, well ahead of the 2.83 inch average.
All this precipitation has helped greatly ease drought conditions in the western part of the state. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the vast majority of Custer County is now listed as “abnormally dry,” the lowest end of the monitor. The extreme eastern part of the county is not listed as having any drought whatsoever. In addition, the majority of Pennington County, along with all of Meade and Lawrence County are no longer having drought conditions.
The weather pattern has also brought cooler temperatures, as Custer had an average high of 69.5 in June, some three degrees lower than the typical average. The average low remained about the same. May was actually slightly hotter than the yearly average.
Jeff Johnson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Rapid City, said the Black Hills are sitting in the right area for these weather disturbances to come across in the jet stream. Johnson said once the rain starts the ground gets saturated and moistures is able to stay in the lower levels of the atmosphere, meaning it primes the area for more rain as more disturbances come through.
“When we are in a drought and the ground is very dry, it takes a lot to get rain and storms going because we don’t have moisture conditions in the ground,” he said. “At that point it’s only really what’s going on in the upper levels of the atmosphere.”
The constant rain, while mostly positive, can cause some issues. Zack Brown, public works supervisor for the City of Custer, said when the city gets a lot of rain it can wash out some roads, which leads to a rash of complaints. He said the city has a list of roads it knows will be affected by a lot of rain.
“When it rains we know it’s going to wash these roads out and we systematically go through them,” he said.
Historically by this time of year the grass growth has started to slow down, but that has not been the case this year, which Brown said is keeping public works staff plenty busy with mowing. The mowing can get backed up when the rain won’t relent long enough for the grass to dry out enough to mow.
Jess Doyle, Custer county Highway Department superintendent said he wishes the weather would be “one way or the other,” pointing out Custer County was suffering years of drought prior to this year.
“You can’t count on a forecast is the problem,” he said.
Doyle said while the rain is welcome in terms of helping highway department staff being able to shape roads, if there is too much it can wash roads out.
“In a perfect world if we got half an inch of rain once a week, that would be great,” he said. “It seems we are experiencing weather extremes.”
Compare this area to Texas, where a brutal heat wave has seen the state rivaling the hottest locations on the planet, including the Sahara Desert and parts of the Persian Gulf.
Over the past week, several cities in Texas, including San Angelo and Del Rio, have hit or surpassed 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) — temperatures that are more common at this time of year in parts of northern Africa and the Middle East, according to NBC News.
A stagnant dome of high pressure fueled dangerous heat and humidity across most of Texas, with local officials warning people to take precautions and limit time outdoors.
On the Black Hills National Forest, public affairs director Scott Jacobson said the abundance of rain has been beneficial in many areas, including reducing the fire danger.
“The moisture helps the Ponderosa Pines to stay resilient to insects and disease. And, the rain has helped grass grow to help feed livestock and wildlife,” Jacobson said. “Runoff from the rain has helped fill streams and reservoirs, providing drinking water, improving fisheries downstream and benefiting recreationalists that like to boat, paddle board, fish and more.”
A potential downside is it has caused some roads and trails to become muddy, impacting OHV travel in some places.
The rain has also been a boon for farmers and ranchers in Custer County. Alan Bishop, who runs cattle in the Hermosa area, said the constant rain has allowed him to “actually grow grass.”
“Without rain, the grass doesn’t grow, then you have to buy feed,” he said. “The more grass you can grow, the cheaper you can raise cattle. Some people complain it’s hard to put up hay when it rains, but let me tell you, it was harder to put up last year when it didn’t grow.”
Bishop said typically by this point in the year the growing season for the grass is coming to an end, but this year he expects his cattle to be able to graze deep into the fall. It was also allow him to store extra feed for next year.
“(The rain) is a good deal and I thank the person in charge for giving us rain this year,” he said.
Brad Baker, who grows hay crops such as milo, millet, trticale and some sunflowers in far eastern Custer County, said the rain has been great for the crops, although he said “it’s one hail storm away from being gone.”
Baker said last year was the driest year he had ever dealt with, saying it didnt’ ran from late April to August. This year, however, is a different story, and alfalfa he planted three years ago is sprouting for the first time this year.
“It’s helping,” Baker said of the rain. “It’s not a runaway, but it’s definitely helping.”