Daily Weather Discussion

A powerful winter/spring storm will impact much of the region over the next couple of days. Scattered thunderstorms are moving across parts of the tri-state region early this morning. That will quickly change later this morning as cold air rolls in and rain changes to snow.

A Blizzard Warning is in effect for much of central and southern South Dakota, a Winter Storm Warning is in effect for much of eastern and northeastern South Dakota and much of Minnesota and a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for the Sioux Falls area today, tonight and tomorrow.

The most treacherous conditions will occur across central and southern South Dakota where 6 to 10 inches of snow will be accompanied by 50 to 60 mph wind gusts that will create white-out blizzard conditions. Because the system will impact each part of our region differently, I’m going to break the forecast down by region:

Sioux Falls:
A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect from 9 AM today through 6 PM Tuesday

Areas of rain and freezing rain this morning will quickly mix with and then change to snow. Snow will continue today, tonight into tomorrow, ending tomorrow afternoon.

Total snow accumulation 3 to 6 inches. Heavier amounts west.

Wind gusts to between 25 and 35 mph will create blowing snow that will reduce visibility.

Aberdeen and Watertown:

A Winter Storm Warning is in effect until 6 PM Tuesday

Rain will mix with snow this morning, changing to all snow by noon. Heavy snow is likely through this afternoon and tonight with snow ending by around noon tomorrow.

Total snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches with some places getting up to 12 inches.

Wind gusts to between 20 and 30 mph will create blowing snow.

Pierre:

A Blizzard Warning is in effect through 6 PM Tuesday

Snow is likely today and tonight. 6 to 10 inches of accumulation is possible through tomorrow morning with localized areas of 12 inches or more. Snow will be heavy at times with extreme wind gusts to between 40 and 60 mph. White out blizzard conditions are likely today, tonight and tomorrow. Snow will end and the wind will gradually decrease tomorrow afternoon. The strongest wind gusts of 50+ mph are likely this afternoon and this evening however, wind gusts to between 40 and 50 mph will continue through tonight and into tomorrow morning. Wind will decrease to between 15 and 25 mph tomorrow afternoon.

Get ready for a sunny, mild start to the week. Today will be mostly sunny with high temps ranging from the low 40s in Sioux Falls to the mid to upper 30s across much of South Dakota.

Tonight will be partly cloudy with areas of fog developing toward morning. With temperatures dropping into the teens overnight, the fog will frost the roads.

The rest of the week will be mostly dry and quite a bit warmer than we’ve been for the last week or so. High temps will climb into the low to mid 30s each day.

Extreme southeastern South Dakota and parts of Iowa and Minnesota will get clipped by a system late Wednesday into Thursday. We could get a quick shot of light snow in Sioux Falls on Wednesday night. Parts of southern Minnesota and northwestern Iowa could get some minor accumulation.

Saturday and Sunday are looking good. Both days should be partly cloudy with highs in the upper 30s to low 40s. There is a potential system that could impact the region with rain and then snow late Sunday and Monday. Depending on how that pans out, we might have to tweak Sunday’s forecast a bit. It’s only Monday and a lot could change between now and then. I’ll have updates throughout the week.

Two down, one more on the way. It has been a busy week for snow and the most significant system of the three is on the way.

A Winter Storm Watch is in effect from Saturday morning through Saturday evening and includes Sioux Falls, extreme southeastern South Dakota, much of Minnesota, northwestern Iowa and eastern Nebraska. Snow will develop across central Nebraska late tonight and move northeastward into South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota on Saturday morning. Snow will be heavy at times with accumulation of 5 to 7 inches possible in Sioux Falls. Parts of Iowa and Minnesota south and east of Sioux Falls could get 6 to 10 inches. This system will have a lesser impact north and west of Sioux Falls. Accumulation of 3 to 5 inches is possible in Huron, Mitchell and Watertown, 2 to 4 inches in Chamberlain, 1 to 3 inches in Aberdeen and about an inch in Pierre.

Wind will be fairly light through most of the day Saturday however, gusts could increase to between 20 and 30 mph on Saturday night in places south and east of Sioux Falls.

Stay tuned for updates. As the system develops we will be able to fine tune the forecast track of the storm and make any necessary adjustments to the snow forecast.