I grew up a flatlander – Iowa cornfields, rich black dirt and four very distinct seasons in a year. Back when I first started thinking about moving to the Black Hills, the thing that people told me most often was how drastically different the weather was going to be. I thought they were probably exaggerating, but was hoping they weren’t.

You see, I thrive on outdoor activities and am intrigued by different types of weather systems. As it turns out, the Black Hills have been the perfect playground, filled with completely unpredictable weather all year long.

Now, I had been through my fair share of blizzards and cold during the winters on the plains, but I had no idea what I was really in for.

Today, here in the northern Black Hills, the actual temperature got all the way up to a balmy two degrees. Yes, that’s my feeble attempt at sarcasm. There have also been some crazy strong winds today that have driven the wind chill down to nearly 30 below zero!

The snow is blowing and drifting, schools are shut down, the interstate is closed, but I’m still smiling. Why? Because this type of weather is perfect for winter sports in the area and I want to get outside this weekend. And also because I know that this cold snap won’t last very long.

The weather in the Black Hills can change so quickly it’ll make a person’s head spin. In fact, Spearfish holds the world record for the fastest temperature change in history. Back on January 22nd, 1943, at about 7:30 in the morning, the temperature was four degrees below zero. A quickly-warming chinook wind blew into the area and in two-minutes time raised the temperature up to 45 degrees!

By 9:00 a.m that morning, the temperature had risen all the way up to 54 degrees. All of a sudden, as quickly as it had come, the chinook wind died down and the temperature dropped back down to negative four in just a matter of minutes.

While dramatic temperature changes like that are not an everyday occurrence, they’re kind of par for the course for such an amazing place as the Black Hills.

Even though it’s unbearably cold today, I’m still excited for the weekend as it’s predicted to be sunny, calm and 30 degrees or more outside. My plan is to do some snowshoeing, but I’d better pack my umbrella, flip-flops and beach towel just in case.

After all – these are the Black Hills – and they’re full of great surprises!