When it comes to the weather, students from the Rapid City School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City are among the best in the nation.

Students from the school's Department of Atmospheric Sciences recently placed 12th overall out of 68 universities in the nationwide WxChallenge forecasting contest. The annual event pits more than 1,500 students in a contest that tests the forecasting skills of students and faculty members.

According to a news release from SDSM&T, seven undergraduate and graduate students represented the school in the 2007-08 competition. The students varied in rankings between 91 and 667.

Joanna George, a 2008 Masters of Science graduate in atmospheric science, received a trophy for obtaining the lowest score in the graduate student division for the city of Wenatchee, Wash.

The contest works as follows.

Forecasts are made for five two-week forecast periods each semester, with each period set in a different city. For each city, the maximum and minimum temperature, maximum wind speed, and cumulative precipitation are forecast for the day. The closer the forecaster comes to the actual observations, the lower their score becomes. Trophies are awarded when a forecaster scores the lowest for a single period or overall for all forecast sites.