When we pulled into the Lake Park Campground, even though it was
a very hot day, fluffy snow was falling and drifting up on the grass. The
campground is lined with huge cottonwood trees. We were advised to keep our AC
vent cleaned off of the fluffy stuff, or cover it with a screen wire.
I told the girl that I was a little worried about snow in
the winter, she said, "How long are you staying?" Until January. "Oh, you will
definitely see snow! Just last October, we had a big snow, the whole
town was shut down about a week, no power. The cottonwood trees still had their
leaves on since it was so early and they got weighted down with snow, the limbs
were popping off, it sounded like gunshots."
I Googled it: October 3-5, 2013: The National Weather Service confirmed blizzard conditions
occurred in Rapid City ,
with visibility of 1/8 mile for over three hours. Sustained winds reached 44 mph with gusts to 55 mph at the Rapid City airport before
the sensor was knocked out of commission late Friday afternoon. According to The Associated Press, first responders in Rapid
City were overwhelmed with calls for stuck vehicles and downed trees and power
lines making some roads impassable.
A walk through nearby Canyon Lake Park shows more snow drifts, or cottonwood drifts. The campground is on the edge of Rapid City, on Canyon Lake, and the park is right next door. There is a lot of water here. This stream flows out of the mountains and into Canyon Lake.
When we arrived on the 4th of July it was very hot, but it has cooled off considerably since the holiday weekend, morning temps upper 50s, then up to 80s in the afternoon.
So we will enjoy the summer and walking in the park near the campground and watch the snow fall from the cottonwoods for now, and worry about the real snow later.
