776  
FXUS63 KFSD 261010  
AFDFSD  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD  
510 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2026  
   
KEY MESSAGES  
 
- EXTREME HEAT WARNING THROUGH 9 PM THIS EVENING. HEAT INDEX  
VALUES AS HIGH AS 115 DEGREES.  
 
- WHILE DETAILS ARE UNCERTAIN AND CONFIDENCE REMAINS LOW, IF  
STORMS DEVELOP IN THE LATE AFTERNOON TO EVENING TODAY, SOME  
MAY BE STRONG TO SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS, ISOLATED LARGE  
HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE.  
 
- STILL A GOOD CHANCE FOR HIGHS IN THE 90S THROUGH MID-WEEK IN  
MOST LOCATIONS. ADDITIONAL HEAT HEADLINES ARE POSSIBLE.  
 
 
   
UPDATE  
 
ISSUED AT 508 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2026  
 
SCATTERED HIGH-BASED SHOWERS OR PERHAPS AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM  
WILL LINGER INTO THE MORNING. THIS ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO WANE  
BY MIDDAY, WHICH SHOULD STILL ALLOW AMPLE HEATING WITHIN A VERY  
MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER. DEW POINTS WELL OVER-PERFORMED MOST GUIDANCE  
ON SATURDAY AND SEE NO REASON WHY SIMILAR CONDITIONS WILL NOT BE  
SEEN TODAY. AS A RESULT, NUDGED NBM DEW POINTS UPWARD SLIGHTLY BY  
BLENDING IN SOME ECMWF/CANADIAN REGIONAL DATA TO COUNTERACT THE  
SIGNIFICANT HOT/DRY BIAS SEEN IN THE GFS. THIS DATA CONTINUES TO  
SUPPORT THE EXTREME HEAT WARNING THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON, AND HAVE  
PUSHED THE EXPIRATION OUT TO 9 PM AS FORECAST HEAT INDICES REMAIN  
ABOVE 100F A BIT LATER THAN PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED.  
 
WHILE THE HEAT/HUMIDITY IS A HIGH CONFIDENCE FORECAST, CONFIDENCE  
IN CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL LATER TODAY IS AT THE OPPOSITE END OF THE  
SPECTRUM. THE MAIN QUESTION IS WHETHER STORMS WILL FORM, AND IF  
SO, WHERE. SOME WEAK CONSENSUS IN DEVELOPMENT TOWARD THE MISSOURI  
RIVER VALLEY IN THE VERY LATE AFTERNOON (5-7 PM), WITH ISOLATED TO  
PERHAPS SCATTERED ACTIVITY DRIFTING EAST TOWARD NORTHWEST IOWA  
THROUGH THE EVENING.  
 
WITH LINGERING UNCERTAINTY, WILL KEEP POPS ON THE LOW SIDE. THAT  
SAID, A DEEP DRY SUB-CLOUD LAYER YIELDS PLENTY OF DCAPE, SO ANY  
STORM THAT FORMS WILL BRING A POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY SEVERE WIND  
GUSTS. THE WARM ATMOSPHERE SHOULD LIMIT HAIL GROWTH, BUT ISOLATED  
MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL COULD OCCUR WITH THE STRONGEST UPDRAFTS.  
 
THE BOUNDARY WHICH COULD POTENTIAL TRIGGER STORMS LATE TODAY WILL  
DROP SOUTHEAST OF THE AREA ON MONDAY, ALLOWING LESS HUMID AIR TO  
FILTER INTO THE AREA. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WARM WITH HIGHS IN  
THE 90S, AND LOCATIONS SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 18 MAY STILL BE HUMID  
ENOUGH IN THE AFTERNOON TO SUPPORT HEAT INDICES ABOVE 100F.  
HOWEVER, WITH THE EXTREME HEAT WARNING IN PLACE FOR TODAY AND SOME  
UNCERTAINTY REGARDING INFLUX OF LESS HUMID AIR ON MONDAY, OPTED TO  
HOLD OFF ISSUANCE OF ANY FURTHER HEAT HEADLINES AT THIS TIME.  
 
 
   
DISCUSSION  
 
ISSUED AT 117 PM CDT SAT JUL 25 2026  
 
HEAT:  
 
NOT MUCH CHANGE AS DEW POINTS IN THE UPPER 60S TO MID 70S PROVIDE  
THE AREA WITH AN OPPRESSIVE ENVIRONMENT. AS TEMPERATURES RISE INTO  
THE 90S TODAY AND SUNDAY, HEAT INDICES WILL JUMP TO BETWEEN 100-110  
DEGREES IN MOST LOCATIONS. THE HOTTEST CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO LOOK  
TO BE ALONG THE JAMES AND MISSOURI RIVER VALLEYS.  
 
FOR NOW MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY SHOULD SEE HIGHS GENERALLY IN THE  
90S BUT WITH A BIT LESS HUMIDITY. THIS WILL KEEP THE HEAT INDEX IN  
THE 90S AS WELL. WILL HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE DEW POINTS TRENDS  
AS A FEW MORE DEGREES OF MOISTURE WILL PUSH HEAT INDICES ABOVE 100.  
 
A WAVE MOVING THROUGH ON WEDNESDAY WILL LIKELY BRING SLIGHTLY COOLER  
AIR INTO THE AREA SO THE SECOND HALF OF THE WEEK MAY NOT BE QUITE AS  
HOT.  
 
THUNDERSTORMS:  
 
OVERALL A CAPPING INVERSION WILL BE IN PLACE FOR THE AREA THROUGH  
THE AFTERNOON, SO DEVELOPMENT IS NOT EXPECTED. ONE EXCEPTION MAY BE  
IN AND AROUND GREGORY/CHARLES MIX COUNTIES WHERE MODEL SOUNDINGS  
HINT AT POSSIBLY BREAKING THE CAP. IF THIS CAN HAPPEN, AN ISOLATED  
STORM WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR WIND GUSTS AROUND 70 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.  
CAPE VALUES ONLY RUNNING ABOUT 500-1500 J/KG WITH FAIRLY WEAK SHEAR,  
BUT WITH A VERY DRY SUBCLOUD LAYER. OTHERWISE, DEVELOPMENT SHOULD  
TAKE PLACE WEST OF THE AREA AND MOVE IN AFTER ABOUT 6-8 PM. THIS  
CLUSTER OF STORMS WILL LIKELY BE A BIT PULSY, BUT WITH BETTER  
INSTABILITY AND STILL A FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT SUB CLOUD DRY LAYER WIND  
GUSTS TO 75 MPH WILL BE LIKELY WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR A COLD POOL TO  
DEVELOP. HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE, BUT  
WIND WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT. MANY OF THE LATEST 12Z MODELS ARE  
JUMPING ON THIS WIND THREAT AND THE HRRR HAS BEEN VERY CONSISTENT  
BRINGING THIS WIND THREAT RIGHT DOWN I-90 THIS EVENING.  
 
SOME LINGERING SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE FROM MIDNIGHT INTO EARLY SUNDAY  
MORNING, BUT ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE AND MAY EVEN HAVE TROUBLE  
REACHING THE GROUND WITH A SIGNIFICANT DRY LAYER BELOW. STILL A LOT  
OF QUESTION MARKS REGARDING THE SEVERE THREAT TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND  
TOMORROW NIGHT. FOR NOW A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF DRY AIR IN THE LOW  
TO MID LEVELS SHOULD PROVIDE ENOUGH CAPPING TO AVOID AFTERNOON  
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. IF A STORM COULD DEVELOP, 2000 J/KG CAPE,  
30-40 KNOTS OF DEEP LAYER SHEAR AND A SIGNIFICANT DRY LAYER IN THE  
LOWER LEVELS WOULD SUPPORT WIND GUSTS TO 75 MPH AND HAIL TO THE SIZE  
OF HALF DOLLARS. OTHERWISE DURING THE LATER EVENING AND OVERNIGHT  
HOURS THE MODELS ARE REALLY BACKING OFF ON ANY POTENTIAL FOR THE  
AREA AND KEEPING THE ISOLATED TO SCATTERED ACTIVITY TO THE NORTHEAST.  
 
A WAVE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY MORNING  
AND BE THE NEXT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THIS WILL BE  
THE NEXT THREAT FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE STORMS. THE MAIN THREAT FOR  
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD COME ON THURSDAY.  
 
 
   
AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/  
 
ISSUED AT 1244 AM CDT SUN JUL 26 2026  
 
SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH THROUGH THE AREA  
INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS TODAY, WITH ADDITIONAL SHOWERS  
POSSIBLY REDEVELOPING AFTER SUNRISE THROUGH THE LATE MORNING.  
THUNDER THREAT WITH ALL THIS ACTIVITY WILL GENERALLY REMAIN  
QUITE ISOLATED. STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP LATE THIS  
AFTERNOON OVER NORTHERN NEBRASKA AND PERHAPS AS FAR NORTH AS  
SOUTHERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND PUSH EASTWARD INTO TONIGHT. TRENDS  
WILL BE MONITORED, BUT CHANCES OF THIS IMPACTING OUR AREA ARE  
LOW AT THIS TIME, GENERALLY LESS THAN A 25% CHANCE OF OCCURRING.  
 
WINDS COULD GUST UP TO 20 KTS AT TIMES THIS MORNING THROUGH THE  
EARLY EVENING. WINDS WILL BE GENERALLY OUT OF THE SOUTH THROUGH  
THE PERIOD, THOUGH THE WIND DIRECTION MAY BECOME A BIT ERRATIC  
IN CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA LATE THIS AFTERNOON/EARLY THIS EVENING  
AS A WEAK BOUNDARY IMPINGES ON THIS AREA.  
 
 
   
FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES  
 
SD...EXTREME HEAT WARNING UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR  
SDZ038>040-050-052>071.  
MN...EXTREME HEAT WARNING UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR MNZ071-  
072-080-081-089-090-097-098.  
IA...EXTREME HEAT WARNING UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR  
IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032.  
NE...EXTREME HEAT WARNING UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR NEZ013-  
014.  
 
 
 
 
 
UPDATE...JH  
DISCUSSION...08  
AVIATION...SAMET  
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