Daily Weather Discussion

A major winter storm continues to develop this morning and will impact much of our region throughout the weekend. A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for much of South Dakota and parts of Minnesota and Iowa along and south of I-90.

We are starting today with areas of dense fog. Visibility has dropped to less than one-quarter mile in many places and a dense fog advisory is in effect through mid to late morning. With temperature is hanging around the freezing mark this morning, the fog will frost the roads making them slippery at times. Don’t get caught off guard. This afternoon will be cloudy with lingering fog and high temps in the mid to upper 30s.

Areas of light rain will develop this evening and change to freezing rain and sleet as temperatures fall during the night. Roads and sidewalks will become very slippery. Generally, ice accumulation will be around 0.10″ but there could will a few places – Northwestern Iowa, especially – that get between 0.10″ and 0.25″ of ice. By tomorrow morning precipitation will change to snow with snow continuing through tomorrow, tomorrow night and into Sunday. In addition to the snow, strong northeasterly wind gusts from 30 to 40 mph will create blowing snow from late tomorrow afternoon through tomorrow night and well into Sunday.

The heaviest snow will fall along and south of I-90. Accumulation amounts will range from about 3 to 6 inches in Sioux Falls, 6 to 12 inches further south along the Nebraska state line. As of right now, I think the heaviest amounts will be across South Central South Dakota and North Central Nebraska from Gregory to Winner to Valentine. Up to a foot or more of snow is possible there. Amounts will be lighter further north with 2 to 4 inches possible along US Highway 14 with an inch or less likely along and north of US Highway 212.

The light snow and freezing drizzle from yesterday has ended, but roads are still slippery in places this morning. It might be a good idea to give yourself just a little extra time to get where you’re going today. Other than a few scattered slippery spots, today is looking pretty good. It will be partly to mostly cloudy with warmer high temps in the upper 30s to low 40s this afternoon. Tomorrow will be similar with a mix of clouds and sunshine and highs in the upper 30s.

Other than yesterday’s mess, the big talker for the past few days has been the potential for a winter storm this weekend. As of right now, it is looking more and more likely that the storm will have a significant impact on our region late Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The National Weather Service has already issued a Winter Storm Watch for parts of Central and Southern South Dakota, Southwestern Minnesota, Northern Nebraska and Northwestern Iowa. The watch does include Sioux Falls.

This system will have a significant impact on travel this weekend. Heavy snowfall amounts of 6 to 10 or more inches will be possible. In addition to snow, strong wind will create areas of blowing snow.

By late Friday afternoon, areas of light rain will change to freezing rain, sleet and snow. Snow will continue Friday night, Saturday and into Sunday. At this time, it looks as though the primary impact area will be along and south of I-90 with the potential for some significant impacts (depending on the eventual track of the storm) as far north as US Highway 14 and even Highway 212.

There are still a lot of unknowns with this system. While there will be heavy snow with this system, it’s still too early to pinpoint exactly where the heaviest bands of snow will be. As I said earlier, right now it looks like it will be along and south of I-90, but that could change depending on where the low actually develops. There’s also some question as to how long this system is going to hang around. There is the possibility that this system will stall, keeping snow and wind around through much of the day Sunday.

There are a lot of variables with this system. Stay tuned… We will be updating as we get more information and will pin down the timing and get more specific with the track and where the heaviest snow will be as the system continues to develop over the next 24 hours.

My latest video update as of 7AM Thursday:

We are still watching a potential winter storm system for the upcoming weekend. While it is looking more likely that there will be some sort of winter weather impact across our region this weekend, it’s still too early to get specific with the storm track and snow amounts. Stay tuned. We are watching this thing closely and will keep the updates coming as we get closer to the weekend.