Ski Report

Great Bear Recreation Park snow report

Iowa, United States Sioux Falls
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As of 2024-06-22
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Great Bear Recreation Park -- Iowa ski resort
Great Bear Recreation Park Iowa · Sioux Falls
About this resort

Great Bear Recreation Park

Great Bear Recreation Park ski resort in South Dakota offers 14 trails, ranging from beginner to advanced, and is best known for its night skiing. The beginner-friendly Bunny Hill trail is recommended for first-time skiers. The resort also offers snowboarding and tubing. An interesting fact is that the Great Bear Recreation Park was originally a dumpsite, which was transformed into a winter recreation area in the 1960s. The resort's lodge features a full-service bar and restaurant, with the Caribou Lounge being a popular spot for apres ski drinks and entertainment.

Terrain mix: Great Bear Recreation Park in South Dakota is located in the Big Sioux River valley, which is part of the Coteau des Prairies. The area is characterized by rolling hills and valleys, with the park itself situated within the Big Sioux River Recreation Corridor.

The park's ski resort features several ski runs and trails varying in difficulty, with the highest point in the park reaching an elevation of around 1,100 feet. The terrain is relatively gentle compared to other mountain ranges, making it ideal for beginner and intermediate skiers.

While not located in a specific mountain range, Great Bear Recreation Park offers beautiful views of the surrounding countryside and is a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts in South Dakota.

StateIowa
LocationSioux Falls
Detailed forecast

Plan your day down to the hour

Same weather feed Snoflo's iOS app uses -- updated continuously from NOAA / yr.no. Watch the snow column the morning of a storm to know when to call in sick.

Hourly detail

Next 5 days, hour by hour

Temperature line with weather symbols on top, snow + rain accumulation as columns, humidity as a dotted line.

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Deep dive

5-day forecast table

Every 3 hours, broken out across temperature, snow, rain, humidity, and wind. Each cell is colour-coded relative to the column min/max.

TimeConditionTemp (°F)Snow (in)Rain (in)Humidity (%)Wind (mps)Wind dir
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Long-term outlook

15-day temperature & snow

Daily temperatures, snow, and rain projected over the next two weeks -- start of next storm cycle, end of last one.

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Forecast discussion

What forecasters are seeing

Plain-English forecast narrative from the local NWS office. Issued by NWS FSD.

748 FXUS63 KFSD 020524 AFDFSD Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 1224 AM CDT Tue Jun 2 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Continued unsettled conditions remain in the region through the week. No widespread severe weather risks, but conditional and highly localized risks will be possible. - Focus areas for the majority of the severe weather risks ahead will be west of I- 29 and especially along or west of the James River valley. - Temperatures remain in the 80s through the week and rise towards the upper 80s by the end of the weekend. && .UPDATE... Issued at 912 PM CDT Mon Jun 1 2026 A few weak showers and isolated weak thunderstorms have developed across northwest Iowa this evening. These showers and storms have developed on a westward retrograding boundary. Think that any additional development will come to an end soon as the boundary layer stabilizes, shutting off the ability for surface based parcels to be lifted to their LFC`s. Showers and storms have already developed this evening along the high plains across western Nebraska and western Kansas. This convection is expected to push eastwards through the rest of the evening and overnight timeframe, paralleling I-80. Elevated instability will be much weaker across our area, so any precipitation that does make it into parts of the Missouri River Valley is expected to be mainly rain with perhaps a stray rumble of thunder possible. High pressure sitting over the Great Lakes area will be advecting drier, more stable area into the area as east/southeast flow persists through the day tomorrow. This will push the instability gradient to the west. This gradient looks to end up paralleling I-29 by the late afternoon hours tomorrow. A mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) looks to develop from the overnights storms. This MCV looks to interact with this instability gradient and develop additional showers and thunderstorms. Mean flow is roughly parallel to the boundary which looks to allow these showers and storms to persist from late morning through the bulk of the afternoon timeframe. Don`t think any of these storms will be strong to severe as deep layer shear is quite weak, on the order of 10-15 knots. However, brief gusty winds, brief heavy rain, and small hail are possible. The main impact from these showers and storms is that the look to either parallel I-29 or develop just to the west of the interstate. Even though these storms are not expected to be strong to severe, they can still impact outdoor events. A MCS looks to develop along the Black Hills and push northeastwards along a surface boundary draped from northeast South Dakota down into the Black Hills. This boundary looks to reside within a surface trough and is somewhat supported by convergence in the low levels. As the MCS progresses northeastwards along the boundary, it looks to run into a worsening environment as instability wanes and shear weakens. This still looks to support a lower end severe weather threat along and west of a Lake Andes, South Dakota to Huron, South Dakota line where large hail and damaging winds are possible before the MCS races out of the available instability and weakens. Another potential for strong to severe storms is possible on Wednesday. Wednesday is starting to look more like a line of storms as another boundary draped within a surface trough pushes into the area. Shear profiles look to be parallel to the boundary, supporting the potential for a line of storms. That said, still enough uncertainty to not say much beyond that as Tuesday night`s storms could affect Wednesday`s storms. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 112 PM CDT Mon Jun 1 2026 THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING: Rather stable conditions across the region early this afternoon, outside of a lone elevated storm over north central Iowa. Satellite shows a weak mid-lvl wave crossing central Nebraska and lifting towards the Tri-State area. Soundings closer to home show a very stable layer that should prevent any surface based convection to develop as temperatures rise towards the 80s. What this wave may do is briefly slow the rise in temperatures, but bring a chance for a few high based sprinkles. A second area we`ll be monitoring today is right along the eastward edge of the CWA where a bit less inhibition is in place. With a very weak shear profile, any storm that develops is not expected to be strong to severe. TONIGHT: Most of the focus during the overnight hours will be across the Nebraska Panhandle, Black Hills region, and western Kansas. As yet another wave ejects out of the central Rockies, we should see renewed convection develop and quickly try to congeal into one or more clusters as they cross western Nebraska and South Dakota. Latest CAMS continue to hint at these storms trying to slowly lift northeast but should weaken as they reach a more stable atmosphere. That said, Could continue to see a limited wind risk into south central South Dakota and along portions of the Missouri River valley by 3am. Further north, the abundance of low-lvl moisture combined with light winds could lead to patchy fog developing. TUESDAY: We`ll have to keep a close eye on the progression of the convection in Nebraska as guidance does show signs of a developing MCV that may track east and slowly north during the day. At this point, destabilization of the boundary layer will need to be watched as we could see pockets of 2000 J/KG MLCAPE develop in a narrow corridor ahead of this wave. Isolated to scattered storms could develop based on the weakening of convective inhibition somewhere between the James river and I-29. Effective shear remains very weak. but there may still be appreciable 0-1km helicity to lead to a few rotating storms/funnels. However the widespread severe risk remains low and more focused on marginal hail, but could see future outlooks extended further east. Better focus for convection will be across far western SD along a frontal boundary edging into the state. As yet another wave ejects into the Plains scattered convection along this boundary should develop and begin to track east northeast. One thing to note today is that mid-lvl heights may be rising across central SD in the evening, with 700 mb temperatures also rising. The more meridional 700:500 flow should prevent a strong eastward shift after dark. WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY: Uncertainty grows with the Wednesday and Thursday forecast as we remain stuck in this general mid-lvl southwesterly flow pattern. The aforementioned front will attempt to slide eastward on Wednesday, though a much more e complicated forecast in regards to the environment ahead of the front. Yet another weak mid-lvl area of vorticity tracks through the Tri-State area, increasing the risks for mid-lvl clouds but also a few showers and isolated thunderstorms by the afternoon. The area with the greatest risks for strong convection will be along that frontal boundary in central South Dakota by mid-late afternoon. Additional showers and thunderstorms may be possible into the overnight hours further east as the LLJ intensifies. Latest NBM guidance suggests 8- 95% PoPs in this timeframe, but my confidence in overall coverage is not as high as that chance suggests. A bit of a repeat performance on Thursday, with the greatest severe risks again focused west of the James River and into Southwestern South Dakota by the afternoon. FRIDAY-SUNDAY: MId-lvl troughing moves through the Dakotas on Friday, potentially pushing strong convective risks further east into MN/IA. Confidence is very low in this time period given all of the various uncertainty associated with the forecast in the days before. Confidence rises for next weekend with drier weather and near to slightly above normal temperatures likely. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1224 AM CDT Tue Jun 2 2026 Showers and thunderstorms that have developed over Nebraska continue to drift eastwards. These storms will encounter an unfavorable environment and are expected to weaken. Any chance for rain should come to an end before reaching KSUX but trends will be monitored. Another round of showers and thunderstorms looks to be on the table for late this morning and afternoon. Uncertainty continues regarding where these showers and storms will set up but it looks to be along and west of I-29. Will include mention of rain when confidence in location increases. The showers and storms look to dwindle into the evening hours. Another round of showers may be possible near KHON to end the period. Besides rain chances, winds will turn southeasterly by tomorrow afternoon with gust up to 15-30 knots, strongest west of I-29. && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...None. MN...None. IA...None. NE...None. && $$ UPDATE...Meyers DISCUSSION...Dux AVIATION...Meyers
Around the area

Beyond the slopes

Other ski areas, basecamp options, alpine fishing, and scenic stops near Great Bear Recreation Park -- worth knowing whether you're in for a day, a long weekend, or a season pass.

Mountain & avalanche safety

Know before you go
Check today's avalanche bulletin from the regional avalanche center before any off-piste / side-country / backcountry travel. Conditions can shift dramatically between morning and afternoon on storm days.
Carry the gear, know how to use it
Beacon, shovel, probe. Practice companion rescue on a calm day, not during a real burial.
Mind the weather window
Heavy snow + wind builds wind slabs at ridgelines. The day after a storm is often the riskiest in the backcountry, even if the resort itself is open.
Respect closed terrain
Ropes are there for a reason. Even in-bounds, ducking a closure can trigger a slide that catches you and others below.

Track Great Bear Recreation Park in the Snoflo app

Save this resort as a favorite, set push alerts when snowfall crosses a threshold (e.g. "alert me when Great Bear Recreation Park reports 6″ new"), and Snoflo's iOS app will push the moment the SNOTEL station crosses.

FAQ

About Great Bear Recreation Park

Where does the snow data for Great Bear Recreation Park come from?

Snowpack, SWE, 24-hour snowfall, and air temperature come from the nearest USDA NRCS SNOTEL station. Forecast comes from the National Weather Service / yr.no feed that Snoflo's iOS app uses.

How often is the snow report updated?

Snowpack and SNOTEL data are updated continuously by NRCS (typically hourly). The 15-day weather forecast is refreshed throughout the day. Snoflo caches and renders the most recent observation -- look for the "as of" timestamp on the snowpack hero.

What's the elevation at Great Bear Recreation Park?

See the Resort Metrics panel above for base / summit / vertical drop. The summit elevation drives snowpack accumulation -- higher summits hold snow longer through spring.

How is "% of normal" calculated?

Today's snowpack is compared to the average snowpack on this calendar day across every recorded year at the nearest SNOTEL. 100% means right on average; 130% is a big year; 60% is thin.

What ski resorts are near Great Bear Recreation Park?

See the Other Ski Areas pill grid at the bottom of the page for resorts within driving distance. The sister Other Ski Areas card in the Plan-a-longer-trip grid above shows the closest few.

Can I get alerts when fresh snow hits?

Yes -- snow alerts are managed in the Snoflo iOS app. Favorite this resort, set a snowfall threshold (e.g. "alert me when 6+ inches"), and you'll get a push the moment the SNOTEL crosses.

More ski areas

Other resorts near here

Snoflo-tracked ski areas within driving distance of Great Bear Recreation Park.