Box Elder Tower Cam, South Dakota

The Box Elder Tower Cam, shared by NewsCenter1, gives a live view over Box Elder, a fast-growing city just east of Rapid City in western South Dakota.

Box Elder sits next to Ellsworth Air Force Base, home of B-1 bombers and one of the largest employers in the region, and the city has grown quickly with new homes and businesses serving the base community. Its location along Interstate 90 makes it a gateway between the Black Hills to the west and the plains to the east.

The Black Hills, just a short drive away, are home to Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, while Badlands National Park lies to the east. Every August, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally brings hundreds of thousands of riders to the region, filling the roads around Rapid City and Box Elder.

A tower camera like this one is mainly used for weather. Western South Dakota sees dramatic weather: winter blizzards and bitter cold, warm chinook winds that can raise temperatures suddenly, and powerful summer thunderstorms with lightning, hail and occasionally tornadoes. Watching the sky from this vantage point is a great way to follow storms as they roll across the plains.

The camera is provided by NewsCenter1.