A broad area of drizzle, rain, and light snow is making its way up from the south, the leading edge of what is going to be a very potent winter storm that is going to affect KELOLAND all weekend long.
Tonight is going to be rainy and windy in Sioux Falls and SE KELOLAND – including for the Parade of Lights in Sioux Falls. It is even possible there will be a thunderstorm because of the amount of energy and incoming moisture that will be available. A Winter Weather Advisory is posted. Western, Central, and NE KELOLAND will see light freezing rain change over to snowfall. Winds will be strong, from the east, at 15 – 30 mph. Rapid City will have a strong NW wind, bringing in the cold air that will start to create blizzard conditions.
A Winter Storm Warning is posted for central and NE South Dakota, plus the Black Hills, through Sunday morning. Rapid City and the plains of western South Dakota are in a Blizzard Warning due to the considerable wind driven snowfall we’re expecting. Sioux Falls and SE KELOLAND will get more rain than snow, at least for Friday night and Saturday.
Tomorrow will be cloudy and windy across KELOLAND, with highs in the 30 s. Sioux Falls and SE KELOLAND will have a brisk SE wind, which should keep precipitation mostly in the form of rain during the day, and rainfall could approach a half inch or more in the warmer air. Rain will change to snowfall Saturday night. The winter storm will continue all day in western, central, and NE KELOLAND, where strong winds are likely to cause significant travel problems, especially in rural and open areas. Blizzard conditions are likely, with significant snowfall accompanying the strong winds.
The winter storm should wind down from west to east on Sunday. Strong winds will continue to cause problems even after the snowfall ends. Highs will only be in the upper 20 s to low 30 s, with a strong north wind continuing to cause blowing snow even as the snowfall winds down from west to east.
Significant snowfall is possible across much of the area this weekend. Here in the Storm Center we are thinking that Sioux Falls could see 2-4 ”of snow Saturday night and Sunday morning. The weekend snowfall totals are likely to exceed a foot in much of western, central, and portions of NE South Dakota.
Monday will be cold, with single digits to the low teens in the morning above fresh snow cover. Monday afternoon’s highs will only be in the 20 s to low 30 s East River, despite partly cloudy skies.
The rest of the week looks fairly quiet, though the expected thick snow cover will likely keep those area on the cool side of normal.
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