Lead, South Dakota Weather
Lead, South Dakota — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery for Lead, Lawrence County.
Full aviation weather for Lead is published on the Black Hills Airport-Clyde Ice Field (KSPF) page, 14 km away. It carries the current METAR decoded into plain language — surface wind, visibility, cloud layers and ceiling, temperature and dewpoint, and altimeter setting — alongside the raw observation as transmitted. 4 airfields within reach of Lead have their own pages, listed below.
The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is shown across its full validity period, with each change group broken out so you can see when conditions are expected to shift. Flight category is derived automatically — VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR — from reported ceiling and visibility, with runway details and field elevation alongside. Observations update roughly hourly and forecasts several times a day.
Other airports near Lead: Sturgis Municipal Airport (K49B) 32 km · Belle Fourche Municipal Airport (KEFC) 43 km · Ellsworth Air Force Base (KRCA) 58 km
Conditions reported at KSPF describe the airfield itself. Weather 14 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Lead specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
About Lead, South Dakota
Lead rises from the Black Hills, a place where the earth breathes secrets and the wind whispers through ponderosa pines. It lies 32.4 miles north-west of Rapid City, SD (from Rapid City, SD: bearing 306°T), and is situated 2.4 miles south-west of Deadwood. The landscape here is a study in rugged beauty, a terrain of steep inclines and shadowed valleys, where granite outcroppings stand sentinel against the expansive sky. Sunlight, when it breaks through the clouds, has a peculiar clarity, illuminating the dense evergreen forests that climb the slopes, their scent a constant, resinous presence in the cool mountain air. The very ground feels ancient, a firm, stony foundation that has weathered centuries of wind and rain, and the occasional, almost ethereal, silence that settles after a snowfall speaks of a profound, untamed wildness. The pulse of Lead has long been tied to the deep veins of gold and silver that lie beneath its surface, a history etched into the very bones of the settlement. For generations, the Black Hills' mineral wealth fueled its economy, drawing prospectors and miners who sought fortune in the dark earth, their labor shaping the character of this resilient community. Though the great mines have largely fallen silent, the legacy of that era endures, a quiet hum of industry that has shifted to tourism and local businesses catering to the visitors drawn by the area's natural splendor and historical resonance. The town retains a sense of sturdy independence, a place where time seems to move at its own deliberate pace, marked by the changing seasons and the enduring spirit of its people.
Live animated radar for Lead and surroundings — RainViewer.
NOAA GOES-16 GEOCOLOR — live animated loop updated every 10 minutes. Shows cloud cover, storm systems and weather patterns across the continental US.
Source: NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East · Public domain · Auto-updates on page reload
| Location | Lead, Lawrence County, South Dakota |
| Coordinates | 44.352206°N, 103.765198°W |
| Timezone | Mountain Time (America/Denver) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 57754 |
| Area Code | 605 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Lead, South Dakota Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Lead, South Dakota, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, 7-day outlook, NWS extended text forecast, precipitation radar and NOAA GOES-16 satellite imagery. Aviation weather — live METAR observations and TAF forecasts — is published separately on the pages for the nearest reporting airports, linked from the aviation section above. Additional sections may include tide predictions, wave height, wave direction and sea-surface temperature, a barometric pressure trend, and a solunar-based fishing forecast with a fishing-conditions rating for coastal localities, and soil temperature, crop weather and live USGS river gauge data for agricultural areas near a monitored waterway. All data updates automatically on every page visit.
Location data for Lead includes coordinates 44.352206°N, 103.765198°W, situated in Lawrence County. ZIP code 57754. Telephone area code: 605. Timezone: Mountain Time (America/Denver).
Weather data is sourced from the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the open-source Open-Meteo API. River and stream data is sourced from the USGS National Water Information System. Tide predictions are sourced from NOAA CO-OPS; marine and solunar data are modeled from Open-Meteo and public sunrise/moon calculations and should be treated as a general guide alongside on-the-water conditions. Radar is provided by RainViewer. Satellite imagery is sourced from NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East and is public domain.
