641  
FXUS63 KFSD 260915  
AFDFSD  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD  
415 AM CDT SAT SEP 26 2026  
   
KEY MESSAGES  
 
- WIDESPREAD RAIN/DRIZZLE EXPECTED THIS MORNING WITH POCKETS OF  
MODERATE RAINFALL, ESPECIALLY NEAR AND EAST OF I-29. THUNDER  
RISKS ARE LOW, BUT COULD OCCUR WITH A HEAVIER SHOWER.  
 
- ADDITIONAL SHOWERS OR STORMS MAY REDEVELOP IN NORTHWEST IOWA  
LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY OVERNIGHT. SEVERE WEATHER IS  
NOT EXPECTED, BUT BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS CAN BE EXPECTED IF A  
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPS.  
 
- DAYTIME TEMPERATURES REMAIN BELOW NORMAL, BUT SHOULD CLIMB  
CLOSER TO NORMAL TOMORROW FOR AREAS WEST OF THE JAMES RIVER,  
AND THEN ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY FOR THE WHOLE AREA.  
 
- AFTER A BRIEF BREAK LATE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY, RAIN CHANCES  
RETURN MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. POCKETS OF HEAVIER RAINFALL  
WILL AGAIN BE THE PRIMARY CONCERN.  
 
 
   
UPDATE  
 
ISSUED AT 415 AM CDT SAT SEP 26 2026  
 
LIGHT TO MODERATE SHOWERS LOCATED MAINLY EAST OF THE JAMES RIVER  
AS OF 330 AM WILL SLOWLY TRACK EAST-NORTHEAST ACROSS THE FORECAST  
AREA THROUGH THE MORNING. COULD CONTINUE TO SEE AREAS OF DRIZZLE  
ON THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE RAIN, BUT WITH DECREASING LIFT BEHIND  
THE DEPARTING LEAD WAVE, DRIZZLE COVERAGE SHOULD LIKEWISE DIMINISH  
AS WE MOVE TOWARD MIDDAY-EARLY AFTERNOON. ANY BREAK FROM THE RAIN  
WILL BE BRIEF, ESPECIALLY IN OUR EASTERN AREAS AS A TRAILING WAVE  
QUICKLY SLIDES ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING. THIS STRONGER WAVE  
COULD TRIGGER A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVIER RAINFALL RATES.  
HOWEVER, SEVERE WEATHER RISKS ARE VERY LOW GIVEN LACK OF SHEAR AND  
LIMITED INSTABILITY.  
 
STRATUS LOOKS TO REMAIN PERSISTENT THROUGH TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY  
MORNING, WITH INCREASED PROBABILITIES OF FOG LATER TONIGHT INTO  
SUNDAY MORNING AS WELL. MAY SEE SOME BREAKS IN THE STRATUS BY  
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, ESPECIALLY WEST OF I-29 AS THE LOW LEVEL MOIST  
LAYER THINS A BIT. HOWEVER, WITH A CONTINUED MOIST EAST-NORTHEAST  
FLOW, CONFIDENCE IS LOW REGARDING HOW FAR EAST ANY APPRECIABLE  
SUNSHINE WILL BE SEEN AND HAVE GENERALLY TRENDED HIGHER THAN THE  
NBM IN PROJECTED SKY COVER INTO SUNDAY.  
 
ANOTHER SYSTEM LOOKS TO MOVE ACROSS THE REGION LATER MONDAY INTO  
TUESDAY NEXT WEEK. AGAIN, LIMITED INSTABILITY AND SHEAR WILL KEEP  
SEVERE WEATHER RISKS LOW, BUT POCKETS OF HEAVIER RAINFALL WILL BE  
POSSIBLE.  
 
 
   
DISCUSSION  
 
ISSUED AT 233 PM CDT FRI SEP 25 2026  
 
AN AREA OF SHOWERS CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST-NORTHEAST ACROSS THE  
HIGHWAY 20 CORRIDOR IN NORTHWEST IOWA. SOME PATCHY DRIZZLE WILL  
BE LEFT IN ITS WAKE. ELSEWHERE, PATCHY DRIZZLE WILL CONTINUE TO  
OCCUR AS STRATUS REMAINS IN PLACE ACROSS THE AREA, THOUGH CLOUD  
CEILINGS HAVE RISEN A BIT SINCE THIS MORNING, MAKING THE  
DRIZZLE MORE PATCHY IN NATURE. SHOWERS LOOK TO DEVELOP ALONG THE  
MISSOURI RIVER VALLEY AND LIFT NORTHWARD STARTING LATE THIS  
AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING AND CONTINUING INTO THE EARLY OVERNIGHT  
PERIOD AS WARM AIR ADVECTION INCREASES ACROSS THE AREA. AN  
UPPER LEVEL WAVE WILL PIVOT INTO THE AREA OVERNIGHT AS WELL,  
WHICH WILL HELP INCREASE THE COVERAGE OF THIS ACTIVITY. PLENTY  
OF MOISTURE IN PLACE AS PWATS INCREASE TO AROUND 1.75+",  
HIGHEST GENERALLY NEAR AND EAST OF I-29. ON TOP OF THIS, THERE  
WILL MAY BE SOME ELEVATED INSTABILITY AROUND 300 J/KG THAT  
COULD ALLOW FOR ISOLATED RUMBLES OF THUNDER. THIS ACTIVITY WILL  
GRADUALLY SHIFT EAST-NORTHEAST THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING, WITH  
ADDITIONAL PATCHES OF DRIZZLE LIKELY BEHIND THESE SHOWERS. IN  
TERMS OF RAINFALL AMOUNTS THROUGH TOMORROW MORNING, WE LOOK TO  
GENERALLY SEE AROUND 0.75-1.25" NEAR AND EAST OF I-29, WITH  
LESSER AMOUNTS THE FARTHER WEST YOU GO ACROSS THE AREA. A FEW  
SPOTS COULD SEE UPWARDS OF AN 1.5-2" (20-30% CHANCE) IF  
MULTIPLE POCKETS OF HEAVY RAIN MOVE OVER ONE AREA. BUT WITH  
TRAINING CONVECTION NOT EXPECTED, FLASH FLOODING CONCERNS REMAIN  
VERY LOW.  
 
WILL HAVE TO WATCH SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A SECONDARY  
AREA OF MID LEVEL VORTICITY MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. THERE MAY BE  
ENOUGH DAYTIME HEATING NEAR AND WEST OF I-29 TO ALLOW FOR  
AROUND 500-750+ J/KG OF CAPE TO DEVELOP. THERE IS A WARM LAYER  
AROUND 700 MB THAT ANY RISING PARCELS WILL HAVE TO FIGHT AGAINST  
BEFORE A THUNDERSTORM COULD DEVELOP, BUT THE LIFT PROVIDED BY  
THE UPPER WAVE MAY BE ENOUGH TO OVERCOME IT, ESPECIALLY CLOSER  
TO I-29 WHERE THIS WARM LAYER IS A LITTLE WEAKER ACCORDING TO  
SOUNDINGS. SHOULD IT BREAK THE CAP, A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE  
ABLE TO DEVELOP. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AS WEAK SHEAR  
WILL BE IN PLACE. SO LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS WOULD  
BE THE MAIN THREAT IF ANY OF THIS DEVELOPMENT WERE TO OCCUR  
(20% CHANCE). MIGHT BE A BETTER CHANCE (30-40%) OF THIS  
DEVELOPMENT OVER NORTHWEST IOWA SATURDAY EVENING AS AN 850 MB  
FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA. SLIGHTLY BETTER SHEAR AROUND 20 KTS  
WILL BE PLACE AT THAT TIME, SO PERHAPS A MORE ORGANIZED STORM IS  
POSSIBLE, BUT STILL NOT ENOUGH FOR A SEVERE WEATHER CONCERN.  
 
THIS 850 MB FRONT WILL BRING A VERY BRIEF PERIOD OF NORTHERLY  
WINDS OVERNIGHT SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY, WHICH MAY HELP THIN THE  
STRATUS A LITTLE BIT. BUT THEN FOG WILL LIKELY DEVELOP AS AMPLE  
MOISTURE NEAR AND AT THE SURFACE WILL BE STILL BE PRESENT. ANY  
FOG AND STRATUS WILL LINGER INTO SUNDAY MORNING, BUT ANY STRATUS  
IS LOOKING MORE SHALLOW THAN WHAT WE'VE SEEN COMPARED TO THE  
PAST COUPLE OF DAYS SO DRIZZLE APPEARS UNLIKELY. WITH THE MORE  
SHALLOW STRATUS IN PLACE, SHOULD BE ABLE TO MIX OUT SOME OF IT  
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, ALLOWING FOR A FEW PERIODS OF SUNSHINE AND  
WARMER TEMPERATURES, WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S TO LOWER 70S.  
THIS PERIOD OF DRIER WEATHER WILL LIKELY BE BRIEF THOUGH,  
BECAUSE OUR NEXT STORM SYSTEM IS SET TO MOVE INTO THE AREA  
MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY. LATEST LREF PROBABILITIES FOR THIS  
TIME PERIOD SHOWS AROUND A 20-30% CHANCE OF AT LEAST AN INCH OF  
RAIN MAINLY SOUTH OF I-90.  
 
 
   
AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SUNDAY/  
 
ISSUED AT 1056 PM CDT FRI SEP 25 2026  
 
DRIZZLE, FOG, AND SCATTERED SHOWERS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP LATE  
THIS EVENING. A LARGER SYSTEM WILL BEGIN TO TRACK NORTHWARD INTO  
THE TRI-STATE AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT BRINGING PERIODS OF MODERATE  
RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS INTO SATURDAY MORNING.  
VISIBILITY AT TIMES MAY RANGE FROM 1-4SM WITH RAIN, WITH  
CEILINGS DROPPING NEAR OR BELOW 500 FT AT TIMES.  
 
THE MAJORITY OF RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT NORTHEAST AND INTO  
SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA BY MID-MORNING, BUT SIGNS CONTINUE TO  
POINT TO OCCASIONAL DRIZZLE LINGERING UNTIL MID-DAY.  
 
AFTER A BRIEF PERIOD WHERE CEILINGS AND VISIBILITY MAY IMPROVE  
NEAR TO ABOVE 1000 FT AGL, SCATTERED SHOWERS, DRIZZLE, OR FOG  
COULD REFORM BY SATURDAY EVENING.  
 
 
   
FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES  
 
SD...NONE.  
MN...NONE.  
IA...NONE.  
NE...NONE.  
 
 
 
 
 
UPDATE...JH  
DISCUSSION...SAMET  
AVIATION...DUX  
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