315  
FXUS63 KFSD 251133  
AFDFSD  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD  
633 AM CDT THU APR 25 2024  
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
- RAIN AND STORMS RETURN THIS EVENING AND NIGHT AND PERSIST  
THROUGH FRIDAY. STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE ON  
FRIDAY.  
 
- BENEFICIAL RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TONIGHT WITH A BROAD QUARTER  
TO THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH OF RAIN EXPECTED, HIGHEST OVER  
NORTHWEST IOWA.  
 
- CHANCES FOR RAIN CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH  
PROBABILITIES INCREASING TO 30-50%+ FOR EXCEEDING A HALF AN  
INCH OF RAIN ON SUNDAY.  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION
 
 
ISSUED AT 355 AM CDT THU APR 25 2024  
 
SPRINKLES TO VERY LIGHT SHOWERS BEGIN THE DAY TODAY. THESE SPRINKLES  
AND LIGHT SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO DISSIPATE THROUGH THE REST OF THE  
OVERNIGHT HOURS. TODAY WILL BE A MOSTLY QUIET DAY AS CLOUD COVER  
BUILDS INTO THE REGION. THIS WILL HOLD HIGH TEMPERATURES SIMILAR TO  
WHAT THEY WERE YESTERDAY WITH HIGHS INTO THE MID TO UPPER 60S BUT  
COULD BE A TOUCH COOLER. AN UPPER LEVEL WAVE WILL BEGIN TO EJECT  
INTO THE PLAINS WHICH WILL SET THE STAGE FOR RAIN THIS AFTERNOON,  
EVENING, AND NIGHT. LEE CYCLOGENESIS WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE FRONT  
RANGE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS AS THE WAVE EJECTS. LOW LEVEL PRESSURE  
GRADIENTS WILL TIGHTEN AHEAD OF THE DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW WHICH  
WILL RESULT IN A STRENGTHENING LOW LEVEL JET (LLJ) AND SOUTHEAST  
GUSTS UP TO 30-40 MPH. WARM AIR ADVECTION (WAA) WILL STRENGTHEN IN  
RESPONSE TO THE LLJ AND BRING THE CHANCE FOR ISOLATED SHOWERS THIS  
AFTERNOON. SOUNDING PROFILES ARE MOSTLY DRY ASIDE FROM A MOIST LAYER  
BETWEEN 800-700 MB SO ANY RAIN THAT DOES FALL DURING THE AFTERNOON  
WILL BE LIGHT AS ONLY A FEW HUNDREDTHS TO POSSIBLY UP TO A TENTH.  
THE LLJ WILL FURTHER STRENGTHEN INTO THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT  
HOURS, CONTINUING GUSTY SOUTHEAST WINDS AND RAIN CHANCES DURING THIS  
PERIOD OF TIME. A SURFACE WARM FRONT WILL PUSH INTO KANSAS BUT THE  
ELEVATED FRONT WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL NEBRASKA. WHILE STILL SOUTH OF  
OUR AREA, A MID LEVEL WAVE ALONG WITH A 500 MB SPEED MAX LOOK TO  
ENCOUNTER THE ELEVATED WARM FRONT AND PRODUCE CONVECTION ON IT.  
ELEVATED INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED AHEAD OF THIS ELEVATED WARM FRONT  
BUT THE INSTABILITY WILL BE WEAK ON THE ORDER OF ABOUT 500 J/KG OF  
CAPE. GIVEN THE WEAK INSTABILITY, SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED BUT  
ISOLATED SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE. THE OTHER ASPECT TO THIS OVERNIGHT  
PRECIPITATION IS BENEFICIAL RAINFALL. MOISTURE TRANSPORT WILL  
STRENGTHEN BETWEEN 925-850 MB WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR A WIDESPREAD  
QUARTER TO THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH OF RAIN TO FALL, HIGHEST OVER  
NORTHWEST IOWA. ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE.  
 
THE UPPER WAVE PUSHES INTO THE FORECAST ARE ON FRIDAY WHICH WILL  
BRING THE CHANCE FOR STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WITH IT. HOWEVER, THIS  
CHANCE FOR SEVERE STORMS REMAINS CONDITIONAL AS IT REMAINS UNCERTAIN  
HOW OVERNIGHT RAIN AND STORMS WILL AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT. IF THE  
LOW LEVELS REMAIN STABLE VIA LOW LEVEL STRATUS BLANKETING THE AREA  
AS THE OCCLUDING SYSTEM PUSHES INTO THE MISSOURI RIVER VALLEY, THEN  
SEVERE WEATHER CHANCES WILL BE LOW AND WOULD BE CONFINED TO ELEVATED  
CONVECTION WITH A LARGE HAIL THREAT. HOWEVER, IF THE LOW LEVELS ARE  
ABLE TO CLEAR OUT AND DESTABILIZE AS THE WAVE APPROACHES, THEN  
SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE. IN THIS SCENARIO, THE SURFACE WARM  
FRONT WILL RAPIDLY ADVECT NORTHWARDS AND PUSH INTO THE MISSOURI  
RIVER VALLEY AND ALLOW CONVECTION TO DEVELOP AS THE MAIN WAVE AND  
LEFT EXIT OF AN UPPER LEVEL JET STREAK COUPLE WITH THE  
BAROCLINICALLY GENERATED VORTICITY ALONG THE WARM FRONT. WITH  
SURFACE DEW POINTS MOISTENING UP TO AROUND 60 DEGREES F,  
SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY WILL BE REALIZED UP TO 1,000-1,500 J/KG  
OF CAPE. WIND SHEAR WILL BE SUFFICIENT AT 30-40 KNOTS OF DEEP  
LAYER SHEAR. HODOGRAPHS REVEAL THAT THERE IS CLOCKWISE CURVATURE  
IN THE LOW LEVELS WITH 0-1KM STORM RELATIVE HELICITY (SRH)  
VALUES UP TO 150-200 M^2/S^2. THIS ALONG WITH 0-1 KM SHEAR  
VALUES BETWEEN 20-30 KNOTS AND LOW LCLS WOULD SUPPORT AN  
ENVIRONMENT CAPABLE OF TORNADOES ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL AND  
DAMAGING WINDS. IN FACT, STORM RELATIVE INFLOW LOOKS TO BE  
ALIGNED WITH 0-500 M VORTICITY VECTOR, SIGNALING THE POTENTIAL  
FOR NEARLY STREAMWISE VORTICITY TO BE INGESTED INTO THE STORMS  
THAT DEVELOP. TAKING EVERYTHING INTO CONSIDERATION, THINK THAT  
THE THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO IS FOR THE OVERNIGHT RAIN AND  
STORMS TO PREVENT THE LOW LEVELS FROM DESTABILIZING DURING THE  
AFTERNOON HOURS AND THUS KEEP LOW LEVEL STRATUS ACROSS THE AREA.  
THIS IS SUPPORTED BY HI-RES ENSEMBLES AS THEY ALL SHOW BARELY A  
30% CHANCE FOR 2-5 KM UPDRAFT HELICITY EXCEEDING 75 M^2/S^2 AND  
WIDESPREAD CLOUD COVER THROUGHOUT THE DAY. THE MAIN TIMEFRAME  
FOR STORMS IS BETWEEN 4 PM TO 10 PM. OUTSIDE OF STORM CHANCES,  
FRIDAY WILL BE A COOLER AND MORE HUMID DAY AS HIGH TEMPERATURES  
ONLY WARM TO THE UPPER 50S AND 60S WHILE DEW POINTS MOISTEN TO  
THE 40S AND 50S. WINDS WILL REMAIN GUSTY OUT OF THE SOUTHEAST  
WITH GUSTS UP TO 30-40 MPH EXPECTED, STRONGEST ALONG AND EAST OF  
I-29. LOW TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ON THE MILD SIDE, ONLY  
FALLING TO THE UPPER 40S AND 50S OVERNIGHT.  
 
AN ACTIVE PATTERN REMAINS ALOFT FOR SATURDAY AS ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL  
WAVE EJECTS INTO THE PLAINS. A COLD FRONT WILL LIE SOUTHEAST OF THE  
FORECAST AREA THANKS TO FRIDAY'S WAVE. GIVEN THE FRONT'S PLACEMENT,  
SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED BUT LIGHT SHOWERS MAY BE POSSIBLE.  
HIGH PRESSURE WILL SLOWLY BE PUSHING INTO THE AREA FROM THE  
NORTHWEST RESULTING IN MARGINALLY BREEZY NORTHERLY WINDS. HIGH  
TEMPERATURES WILL WARM TO THE UPPER 50S TO UPPER 60S FROM NORTHWEST  
TO SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA WHILE LOW TEMPERATURES WILL FALL 40S  
AND 50S.  
 
THE SAME UPPER WAVE FROM SATURDAY WILL PUSH INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS  
ON SUNDAY. MEDIUM RANGE GUIDANCE VARIES ON HOW THE SURFACE LOW WILL  
TRACK ALONG WITH WHERE THE SURFACE FRONT WILL LIE. IF THE FRONT WAS  
TO BACK FURTHER TO THE NORTHWEST, THEN HIGHER THETA-E AIR COULD BE  
INTRODUCED TO THE AREA AND MAY INTRODUCE CHANCES FOR STORMS. IF NOT,  
THEN DEFORMATION PRECIPITATION ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE SYSTEM WOULD  
BE MORE LIKELY. ENSEMBLES ONLY SHOW ABOUT A 30% CHANCE FOR CAPE  
VALUES TO EXCEED 500 J/KG. THEY ALSO SHOW A WIDESPREAD 30-50%+  
CHANCE FOR EXCEEDING A HALF AN INCH OF RAIN. THIS IS FURTHER  
SUPPORTED BY CLUSTER ANALYSIS WHICH HAS ALL CLUSTERS SHOWING A BROAD  
40-60% CHANCE FOR EXCEEDING A HALF AN INCH OF RAIN. ASIDE FROM RAIN  
CHANCES, HIGH TEMPERATURES LOOK TO REMAIN IN THE 50S AND 60S WITH  
LOWS FALLING TO THE 30S AND 40S.  
 
NEARLY ZONAL FLOW SETS UP FOR MOST OF THE WEEK NEXT WEEK. WITH  
WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT, NEXT WORK WEEK LOOK TO BE MAINLY DRY WITH HIGHS  
IN THE 50S TO 70S, COLDEST ON MONDAY, AND LOWS IN THE 40S AND  
50S.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY/
 
 
ISSUED AT 633 AM CDT THU APR 25 2024  
 
VFR CONDITIONS BEGIN THE TAF PERIOD. VFR STRATUS IS PUSHING INTO THE  
AREA EARLY THIS MORNING FROM NORTHEASTERN NEBRASKA. SPRINKLES TO  
VERY LIGHT SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE BENEATH THE STRATUS, MAINLY BY KSUX.  
SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL GUST UP TO 30-35 KNOTS THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS  
THE AREA AND WILL CONTINUE TO GUST THAT HIGH FOR THE REMAINDER OF  
THE TAF PERIOD.  
 
CHANCES FOR RAIN WILL INCREASE THIS EVENING AND NIGHT ACROSS THE  
AREA AS CEILINGS LOWER TO MVFR LEVELS. IFR CEILINGS ARE POSSIBLE  
LATE IN THE PERIOD BUT CONFIDENCE IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO INCLUDE IN A  
TAF AT THIS TIME. THUNDER IS ALSO POSSIBLE DURING THE OVERNIGHT  
HOURS BUT CONFIDENCE IS ALSO TOO LOW IN ANY SPECIFIC LOCATION SEEING  
THUNDER SO HAVE OMITTED FROM ALL TAFS AT THIS TIME. WILL CONTINUE TO  
MONITOR TRENDS OVER THE COMING HOURS. SHOWERS ALONG WITH MVFR  
CEILINGS WILL FINISH THE TAF PERIOD.  
 

 
   
FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
SD...NONE.  
MN...NONE.  
IA...NONE.  
NE...NONE.  
 

 
 

 
 
DISCUSSION...MEYERS  
AVIATION...MEYERS  
 
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.

The Nexlab SD Page
The Nexlab IA Page
The Nexlab MN Page
The Nexlab NE Page Main Text Page