It is going to be mostly cloudy, colder and breezy on Election Day. High temperatures will only reach the mid 30s this afternoon with northwesterly wind gusts to between 30 and 35 mph. Gusts to 40+ mph are possible across Central and Western South Dakota today. Bundle up if you’re going to be outside. The wind is going to make it feel a lot colder than it actually is. In addition to the wind and cold, a few scattered light snow showers will be possible across Northeastern of South Dakota and West Central Minnesota later this afternoon into this evening.

I hate to say it, but today is actually one of the warmest days on the 7 Day Forecast. Between now and the weekend we will get socked with a couple blasts of cold, Canadian Air. Each will knock our temperatures a little lower and bring a little gift of light snow.

The first system will kick through tonight. As I mentioned above, scattered light snow showers will be possible across Northeastern South Dakota and West Central Minnesota this afternoon into this evening. Light snow flurries will be possible across the rest of the region, including Sioux Falls, overnight. Accumulation will be light. Tomorrow will be colder but not as windy as today. Highs will only reach the low 30s tomorrow afternoon.

A system to our south could bring a little light snow to places south of I-90 on Thursday. The next cold blast will come Thursday night into Friday. This one will bring light snow Thursday night into Friday and drop high temps into the low to mid 20s by Friday afternoon. There could be some minor snow accumulation with this system.

The weekend will warm up a little. Just a little. Saturday and Sunday will be partly to mostly cloudy with high temps in the 30s. We could catch another shot of cold air and a little more light snow by early next week. Unfortunately, our long-range models don’t show much of a break from the cold until about the middle of November. I’ll keep a close eye on things and let you know if that changes.

It is going to be a really nice day and an absolutely fantastic evening for all of the trick-or-treaters running around the neighborhood. Today will be sunny with high temps in the mid to upper 50s. This evening will be clear with just a light breeze. Trick-or-Treat temperatures will start in the low 50s at 5 pm and gradually fall into the mid 40s by about 8 pm.

Dry, mild weather will stick around through tomorrow and then our weather pattern will begin to change with several systems impacting the region over the weekend and into next week.

Our first system will bring scattered showers to parts of the region Thursday night into Friday morning. Rainfall amounts will be relatively light – a few hundredths of an inch or less. In addition, a few places could catch a few snowflakes late Thursday night into Friday morning, but again amounts will be light with no accumulation expected. Showers will end early Friday morning but Friday will remain mostly cloudy with cooler high temps in the mid to upper 40s.

The next system will roll in Saturday and will be carrying a bit more moisture than the first. Saturday will be cloudy and cooler with rain. Rainfall amounts will generally be in the 0.10 to 0.20 inch range but some places could get 0.25 inch or even a little more. There could be snow mixed in with the rain at times, but at this point it looks like snowfall amounts will be relatively light.

Finally, there is yet another system that could bring light rain and perhaps a little snow late Monday into Tuesday. Temperatures will stay below average – in the low to mid 40s – through the middle of next week.

Dry weather will continue for a couple more days, but we do have some rain in the forecast later this week.

Today will be sunny and cooler. High temperatures will range from the low to mid 50s in Sioux Falls and places east of the James River to the low 60s across Central South Dakota. Once again, the wind will be fairly light throughout the day.

Tomorrow will be mostly dry with scattered rain developing across South Central South Dakota tomorrow afternoon. Rain will move east tomorrow night into Thursday. Some places could get 0.25 inch or more.

The weekend will be partly cloudy with scattered showers possible both Friday night and Saturday night. High temperatures will stay in the 50s through the weekend.