Our sunny, warm trend will continue today, tomorrow and through the weekend. High temps will range from the upper 80s in Sioux Falls to the mid 90s across central South Dakota this afternoon. There will likely be a bit of haze in the sky at times today. That haze is smoke from all of the wildfires out west. The smoke won’t have much of an impact on our weather other than giving us beautiful, red/orange sunsets and perhaps limiting our afternoon high temperature by degree or two.

Tomorrow will be sunny and a bit warmer with highs reaching the upper 90s to near 100 degrees across much of central and western South Dakota. That trend will continue through the weekend with sunshine and highs in the 80s to 90s on both Saturday and Sunday.

Temperatures will cool slightly by early next week. Our next chance of showers and thunderstorms will roll in with a system Tuesday night into Wednesday. That’s almost a week away, I’ll have updates on the rain potential as we get closer.

The heat and the humidity will return today. High temps will reach the 90s with heat index values soaring to the mid to upper 90s this afternoon.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms will develop across central and northern South Dakota later today and move east this evening and overnight. While thunderstorms will not be widespread, those that do develop will have the potential to become severe. Hail and straight-line wind gusts will be the main threat.

The rest of the weekend will be slightly cooler with scattered showers and thunderstorms possible on both Saturday and Sunday.

Today will be almost exactly like yesterday. Mostly sunny with afternoon high temps ranging from the low 80s in Sioux Falls to the mid 80s along the James River to the low 90s across central and western South Dakota.

Our next system will bring thunderstorms to central and northern South Dakota late this afternoon into this evening. Some storms could be severe with hail and straight-line wind gusts being the main threat. Storms will develop and move southeast through the night and into tomorrow.

In Sioux Falls, thunderstorms are possible tomorrow morning with some redevelopment in the afternoon. Rain and clouds will gradually decrease by mid to late afternoon. There could be one or two strong to severe storms tomorrow. Severe chances will depend on the amount of sunshine we get. More sunshine tomorrow will give us more energy for a severe storm or two. If we stay overcast most of the day, the energy and the severe potential will be limited.

The front that brings storms tomorrow will also bring cooler air for the rest of the week. Thursday and Friday will be mostly sunny with high temps only reaching the mid to upper 70s. Temperatures will remain below average through the weekend with scattered showers and thunderstorms possible on both Saturday and Sunday. Stay tuned for updates on the weekend forecast.

We will start with a little sunshine this morning but clouds will increase later today with showers and thunderstorms likely this afternoon and tonight.

Some storms could be strong to severe especially across south central and southeastern South Dakota. Large hail, strong straight-line wind gusts and even an isolated tornado will be possible. Right now the focal point for severe storms is along and south of I-90 with increasing potential close to and south of the South Dakota/Nebraska state line. I’ll be tweeting updates on the severe weather thought out the day. For the latest severe risk map, check out the tweets in the right hand column at KSFY.com.

An even bigger threat will be the potential for more heavy rain. Rainfall amounts of one to two or more inches will be possible across eastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota and northern Iowa through tomorrow morning. This includes places that were inundated with rain earlier this month. Keep an eye on the weather today, especially if you live in an area that is prone to flash flooding.

The rain will end tomorrow morning and then it will be smooth sailin’ through the weekend. The sun will be back on Thursday afternoon with sunshine and high temps in the low to mid 80s through the weekend. It will be a bit humid through the weekend, but with cooler than average temperatures the heat index won’t be a big issue. An isolated thunderstorm is possible late Sunday afternoon into Sunday night.

Hot, humid weather will continue today. A Heat Advisory is in effect for locations along and south of I-90 this afternoon into this evening. High temperatures will once again soar into the 90s with the heat index approaching 100 to 105 degrees.

A cold front will bring a chance of thunderstorms later today and tonight. A few storms could be severe with hail and strong straight-line wind gusts being the main threat. A bigger concern is the potential for heavy rain. There is a lot of moisture in the air today and storms that develop could produce heavy rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches or more. The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for parts of southeastern South Dakota, southwestern Minnesota and northwestern Iowa from this afternoon through Saturday morning.

Stay tuned for updates on the severe weather and heavy rain potential.