Wind Cave National Park

Climate

The cave maintains a temperature of roughly 53° F 12° C throughout the year. In the above-ground portion of the park, temperatures and precipitation are similar to that of the semi-arid surrounding region, with cold temperatures and occasional waves of warm weather during the winter and warm, occasionally very hot conditions during the summer.

Landscape

The park designation applies both to the prairies above and the caverns below ground. This cave system is also noted for its abundance of "boxwork", a rare mineral formation which is somewhat reminiscent of a honeycomb. Bison, prairie dogs and other wildlife can be found above the surface. It is predicted that Wind Cave could be connected through its "boxwork" to many other caves in the Black Hills, SD area. If this is proven to be true, these caves interlinked would create the longest underground cave network in the world.

Understand

Wind Cave National Park gets its name from how air is exchanged between the cave system and the atmosphere. When the outside air pressure is higher than the cavern's air pressure, air is sucked into a natural fissure in the ground in attempt to equalize the pressure. When the atmospheric pressure is lower than the air within the cave, air is blown out this same fissure. The resulting wind can be strong enough to visibly stir nearby plants.

Since low atmospheric pressure is associated with precipitation, the Wind Cave can actually be used to predict the weather. The reverse is also true--when air is going into the cave, that suggests high atmospheric pressure and fair weather.