“Two to Twelve Inches: Forecasting Snow in the Black Hills”,
When:
Special Events
“Two to Twelve Inches: Forecasting Snow in the Black Hills”,
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
6:00-7:00pm
Hay Camp Brewing Company
601 Kansas City St
RAPID CITY SD 57701-3622
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Join us for the STEAM Café this month! November’s STEAM talk, “Two to Twelve Inches: Forecasting Snow in the Black Hills”, will be presented by Dr. Darren Clabo, South Dakota state fire meteorologist and associate professor of practice in the South Dakota Mines Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.
We’ve all seen snow forecasts on the news – predictions of “6 to 12 inches” are commonplace. We’ve all been surprised by the four inches on driveways and roads when our weather apps only suggest one inch, and we ask ourselves “Why the variability? Why can’t ‘they’ get it right? Is it going to be a snow day or not?”
Dr. Darren Clabo, South Dakota state fire meteorologist and associate professor of practice in the South Dakota Mines Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, will discuss the challenges of forecasting snowfall amounts in the vicinity of mountains.
He will explore how snowfall forecasts are made and what challenges “they” (meteorologists) face when predicting snow accumulation specifically in Rapid City and the Black Hills, including how variations in ground temperature, air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind, atmospheric stability, local terrain, and precipitation efficiency, among others, all play a role in how much snow finally accumulates on the ground – and why a good forecast might be interpreted as being flat-out wrong.
Information for attendance/viewing
• In person: join us at Hay Camp Brewing Company, 601 Kansas City Street in Rapid City.
• Online: view the livestream on Zoom. The talk will be posted to the Mines YouTube channel and the Mines Facebook page after the event.
What’s the STEAM Café?
STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, Hay Camp Brewing Company, and South Dakota Public Broadcasting have teamed up to create STEAM Café, which will be held at 6 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at Hay Camp. Join us for drinks and enjoy a talk by a member of the Mines family. Collaborative programs, cutting edge research and historical perspectives on everything from gothic literature to the impact of motherhood are just a few cool things that you’ll learn about at these fun gatherings. The STEAM Café is a place to share new ideas, forge new friendships and grow as a community.
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(44.07862739999999, -103.2282064)