427  
FXUS63 KFSD 311104  
AFDFSD  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD  
604 AM CDT SAT MAY 31 2025  
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
- SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MOVE THROUGH AREAS  
WEST OF THE JAMES RIVER VALLEY SATURDAY MORNING. SEVERE  
WEATHER NOT ANTICIPATED.  
 
- HIGH LEVEL CANADIAN WILDFIRE SMOKE WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE  
WEEKEND. SOME GROUND LEVEL SMOKE OR REDUCED AIR QUALITY IS  
POSSIBLE LATER SATURDAY, BUT ESPECIALLY SUNDAY.  
 
- THUNDERSTORM RISKS RETURN LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND PEAK  
MONDAY NIGHT. SEVERE WEATHER RISKS WILL BE POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY  
NORTHWEST OF LINE FROM YANKTON TO SIOUX FALLS TO MARSHALL.  
RISKS INCLUDE LARGE HAIL AND LOCALIZED SEVERE WIND.  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION
 
 
ISSUED AT 235 AM CDT SAT MAY 31 2025  
 
THIS MORNING: COMPACT OPEN LOW PIVOTING SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE  
DAKOTAS THIS MORNING. WE'RE ALREADY SEEING HIGH BASED SHOWERS AND  
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AS OF  
2AM. AS THIS LOW CONTINUES TO TRACK SOUTHWARD THROUGH DAYBREAK,  
ADDITIONAL RISKS FOR CONVECTION BUILD INTO AREA MOSTLY WEST OF  
THE JAMES RIVER VALLEY. MUCAPE UPWARDS OF 200 TO 500 J/KG WILL  
PROMOTE A FEW THUNDERSTORM RISKS.  
 
TODAY: AFOREMENTIONED LOW CONTINUES TO MOVE SOUTHWARD THIS MORNING,  
ENTERING NORTHERN NEBRASKA BY MID-LATE MORNING. SHOWERS AND A  
FEW THUNDERSTORMS PERSIST THROUGH MID-DAY WEST OF THE JAMES  
RIVER, AND AS MUCAPE INCREASES AFTER 10AM, A MORE PREVALENT RISK  
FOR NON- SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES ALONG THE MO RIVER  
COUNTIES THROUGH 18Z. A DENSE WILDFIRE SMOKE PLUME, MOSTLY  
CONTAINED ALOFT, WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE  
PLAINS. UPSTREAM OBSERVATIONS NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER ARE  
ALREADY INDICATING SOME VISIBILITY DROPS, WITH LATEST RAP/HRRR  
SMOKE GUIDANCE SUGGESTING THAT A CORRIDOR OF SURFACE BASED SMOKE  
MOVES INTO CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA BY EARLY AFTERNOON, WITH SOME  
POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT HAZE FURTHER EAST BY LATE AFTERNOON. AIR  
QUALITY IS LIKELY TO DETERIORATE THIS AFTERNOON AND MAY  
CONTINUE TO REMAIN AT SLIGHTLY IMPACTFUL LEVELS INTO SUNDAY. ON  
FRIDAY, UPPER SMOKE LIMITED HIGH TEMPERATURES BY 1-3 DEGREES  
THROUGH THE REGION, SO HAVE LOWERED HIGHS TODAY SLIGHTLY TO  
ACCOUNT FOR THE CONTINUED SMOKE.  
 
TONIGHT: WINDS WILL REMAINS QUITE LIGHT OVERNIGHT, AND WITH LOW-LVL  
SUBSIDENCE IN PLACE, WILDFIRE SMOKE MAY GET PUSHED DOWNWARD TO THE  
SURFACE THROUGH THE NIGHT.  
 
SUNDAY: A LIGHT AND VARIABLE WIND AT DAYBREAK TURNS SOUTHWESTERLY IN  
THE AFTERNOON. THE SLOW AND GRADUAL SHIFT OF LOW-UPPER WINDS TO THE  
SOUTHWEST IS NOT EXPECTED TO BEGIN UNTIL LATE IN THE DAY ON SUNDAY,  
THEREFORE SMOKE ALOFT AS WELL AS SOME INFLUENCE AT THE SURFACE CAN  
BE EXPECTED. HIGH TEMPERATURES WARM A FEW MORE DEGREES ON  
SUNDAY, PUSHING THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 80S IN MOST LOCATIONS.  
 
MONDAY-MONDAY NIGHT: THE FORECAST REMAINS MUCH THE SAME AS WE START  
THE NEW WORK WEEK. WE'LL STILL BE KEENLY FOCUSED ON AN APPROACHING  
FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT SPRAWLS FROM THE SW TO THE NE ACROSS CENTRAL  
AND EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA BY LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON. 00Z GUIDANCE HAS  
SHIFTED THE FRONT EVER TO SLIGHTLY FURTHER EAST, FALLING ALONG A  
LINE FROM GREGORY TO HURON AND SISSETON BY MID-AFTERNOON. A LOW-LVL  
MOISTURE SURGE IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE DAY, WITH MID TO EVEN  
UPPER 60 DEWPOINTS INTO A NARROW CORRIDOR ALONG AND AHEAD OF  
THIS BOUNDARY. WITH TEMPERATURES RISING INTO THE UPPER 80S TO  
LOWER 90S, WE'LL SEE MLCAPE VALUES BETWEEN 2000-3000 J/KG BY  
3-4PM. WHILE SOME SLIGHT CAPPING REMAINS IN PLACE NEAR THE  
BOUNDARY, CONVECTION SHOULD QUICKLY FORM ALONG THE BOUNDARY INTO  
THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS AS SURFACE CONVERGENCE INCREASES. BY  
THE EVENING, DEEPER SYNOPTIC FORCING ARRIVES, ALONG WITH A  
STRONGER LLJ THAT SHOULD PROMOTE MORE WIDESPREAD DEVELOPMENT  
ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER INTO NEBRASKA. THANKS TO A  
MID-LVL JET SHIFTED WELL WEST OF THE FRONT, EFFECTIVE SHEAR  
REMAINS MARGINAL AND MOSTLY LAGS WELL BEHIND THE FRONT INTO THE  
EVENING, SUGGESTING SOMEWHAT POOR ORGANIZATION OF CONVECTION AT  
TIMES DURING IT'S ONSET. THAT SAID, INITIAL UPDRAFTS SHOULD BE  
ABLE TO PRODUCE 1.5" HAIL AND WITH DCAPE AOA 1200 J/KG,  
LOCALIZED STRONG WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE. THE SOUTHEASTWARD  
EXTENT OF SEVERE WEATHER MAY BE QUITE LIMITED GIVEN THE POSITIVE  
TILT TO THE UPPER TROUGH AND STEERING FLOW SOMEWHAT PARALLEL TO  
THE FRONT.  
 
THE FRONT SINKS SOUTHEAST INTO MN/IA OVERNIGHT, AND WITH MID-LVL  
FLOW RUNNING NEARLY PARALLEL TO THE BOUNDARY, THE GREATEST  
RISKS FOR NEW CONVECTION MAY BE WITHIN THE POST FRONTAL REGIME  
INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. WITH INSTABILITY ALSO WEAKENING  
QUICKLY AFTER DARK, THE SEVERE WEATHER RISK QUICKLY DIMINISH AS  
WELL. NBM 48 HOUR QPF 25/75 PERCENTILES CONTINUES TO SUGGEST A  
PRECIPITATION RANGE OF 0.50- 2.0 " IN MOST LOCATIONS, WITH THE  
PROBABILITY OF >1.0" ONLY AROUND 50-60%. AREAS WHERE CONVECTION  
INITIALLY FORMS (PRIOR TO COLD POOL DEVELOPMENT) MAY STAND THE  
GREATEST PROBABILITY OF 2".  
 
TUESDAY: RAINFALL MAY PERSIST THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF TUESDAY, BUT  
SHOULD BEGIN TO WEAKEN OR MOVE AWAY BY THE AFTERNOON.  
TEMPERATURES COOL CONSIDERABLY ON TUESDAY, ONLY RISING INTO THE  
60S.  
 
WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY: A BROAD TROUGH OVER NORTH AMERICA WILL KEEP  
SLIGHTLY COOLER AND UNSETTLED WEATHER IN THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES  
THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK. OCCASIONAL SHOWERS OR PERHAPS AN  
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM MAY BE POSSIBLE. HOWEVER SEVERE WEATHER RISKS  
REMAIN LOW WITH PROBABILITIES OF >1000 J/KG MLCAPE ONLY REACH THE  
50% MARK BY NEXT SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES SLOWLY RISE INTO THE LOWER  
TO MIDDLE 70S.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY/
 
 
ISSUED AT 602 AM CDT SAT MAY 31 2025  
 
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM OR TWO CONTINUE  
TO MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA, BUT SHOULD REMAIN WEST OR  
SOUTHWEST OF THE JAMES RIVER THROUGH MID-MORNING.  
 
ELSEWHERE VFR CONDITIONS AND LIGHT WINDS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH  
THE DAY. HIGH LEVEL SMOKE WILL REMAIN IN PLACE INTO THE LATE  
AFTERNOON. SOME VARIABLE REDUCED SURFACE VISIBILITY COULD BE  
POSSIBLE DUE TO SMOKE LATE THIS AFTERNOON.  
 
VFR CONDITIONS CONTINUE OVERNIGHT WITH SMOKE REMAINING IN THE  
AREA. SOME AREAS OF SMOKE MAY AGAIN IMPACT SURFACE VISIBILITY  
THROUGH DAYBREAK.  
 

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

 
 

 
 
DISCUSSION...DUX  
AVIATION...DUX  
 
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