402  
FXUS63 KFSD 301910  
AFDFSD  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD  
210 PM CDT TUE SEP 30 2025  
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
- WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE INTO THE  
UPCOMING WEEKEND. A FEW RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES AND WARM LOW  
TEMPERATURES MAY BE POSSIBLE THIS WEEK.  
 
- ISOLATED TO VERY SCATTERED SPRINKLES TO SHOWERS WILL BE  
POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY MORNING. MOST WILL NOT SEE  
RAIN HOWEVER.  
 
- DRY AND OCCASIONALLY BREEZY AFTERNOON CONDITIONS COULD LEAD  
TO LOW END FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS AS FIRE FUELS CONTINUE TO DRY  
OUT. ONE PERIOD OF HIGHER CONCERN WILL DEVELOP FRIDAY INTO  
SATURDAY.  
 
- RAIN CHANCES CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY.  
PROBABILITIES OF RAIN HAVE INCREASED SLIGHTLY, BUT THERE  
REMAINS CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY ON THE COVERAGE OF RAINFALL.  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION
 
 
ISSUED AT 207 PM CDT TUE SEP 30 2025  
 
THIS AFTERNOON: CONSIDERABLE HIGH LEVEL CLOUD COVER CONTINUES THIS  
AFTERNOON AS THE REGION FALLS INTO AN AREA OF SOUTHWESTERLY MID-LVL  
FLOW AND ON THE SOUTHERN PERIPHERY OF A WEAK 60 KNOT UPPER JET. A  
WAVE PIVOTING THROUGH CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL SHIFT THIS UPPER JET  
EASTWARD TONIGHT AND PUSH THE CIRRUS SHIELD FURTHER EAST AS WELL.  
TEMPERATURES REMAIN SLIGHTLY COOLER TODAY WITH THE CLOUD COVER, BUT  
ARE STILL EXPECTED TO REACH THE UPPER 70S TO LOWER 80S.  
 
TONIGHT: PERSISTENT SOUTHERLY WINDS CONTINUE OVERNIGHT, KEEPING  
TEMPERATURES WARMER THAN NORMAL THROUGHOUT THE TRI-STATE AREA. BY  
MIDNIGHT WE'LL BEGIN TO SEE SIGNS OF INCREASED MOISTURE CONVERGENCE  
AND WARM AIR ADVECTION IN THE FORM OF MID-LVL CLOUDS OVER AREAS  
ALONG AND WEST OF THE JAMES RIVER VALLEY. PERSISTENT BUT FOCUSED  
LIFT IN A NARROW CORRIDOR MAY LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCATTERED  
SHOWERS. AROUND 100-200 J/KG MUCAPE COULD ALSO RESULT IN AN ISOLATED  
LIGHTNING STRIKE OR TWO WITHIN HIGH BASED ACTIVITY.  
 
WEDNESDAY: ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS MAY CONTINUE TO DRIFT  
EASTWARD SLOWLY ON WEDNESDAY, WITH THE AREA OF MID-LVL MOISTURE AND  
VERY WEAK DPVA SHIFTING INTO WESTERN MINNESOTA AND IOWA IN THE  
AFTERNOON. WHILE MOST OF THIS ACTIVITY MAY WANE BY MID-DAY, THERE  
ARE SEVERAL CAMS THAT REDEVELOP THE LINGERING MID-LVL ACCAS FIELD  
INTO SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS BY LATE EVENING OVER  
SOUTHERN MINNESOTA AND NORTHERN IOWA. TEMPERATURES WILL RISE A FEW  
DEGREES ON WEDNESDAY, BUT CLOUD COVER MAY PREVENT A MUCH HIGHER  
CLIMB. THE BREEZY TO OCCASIONALLY GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE AN  
ELEVATED FIRE DANGER RISK MOSTLY ALONG AND WEST OF I-29 IN THE  
AFTERNOON, THOUGH CRITICAL CONDITIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED.  
 
THURSDAY: SHORTWAVE ENERGY MOVES EAST OF THE AREA THURSDAY, WITH MID-  
LVL HEIGHTS RISING THROUGH THE PLAINS. LOW-LVL TEMPERATURES BEGIN  
TO RISE THROUGH OUT THE PLAINS UNDER THESE RISING HEIGHTS, WITH  
HIGHS CLIMBING INTO THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 80S IN MOST AREAS.  
WINDS THOUGH WILL BE WEAKER THOUGH GIVEN THE INFLUENCE OF A  
STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY IN THE AREA.  
 
FRIDAY: MODEL AGREEMENT CONTINUES TO GROW THAT WE'LL SEE A VERY  
WARM DAY ON FRIDAY AS THE AFOREMENTIONED WARM FRONT SURGES INTO  
NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. SHARP SOUTHERLY LOW-LVL AND  
BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW WILL PROMOTE STRONG MIXING AND SHARP RISES IN  
AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE AFTERNOON. A FEW RECORD HIGH  
TEMPERATURES WILL BE POSSIBLE AND HAVE INCREASED TEMPERATURES  
SLIGHTLY OVER POPULATED NBM GUIDANCE. AS SURFACE CYCLOGENESIS  
DEVELOPS OVER THE WESTERN DAKOTAS, WE'LL BEGIN TO SEE A TIGHTENING  
SPG FURTHER EAST OVER THE TRI-STATE AREA. THIS SHOULD RESULT IN  
INCREASING SUSTAINED WINDS BUT ALSO POTENTIAL FOR SOME VERY GUSTY  
WINDS (25 TO 35 MPH) THROUGH THE NIGHT AND PERSISTENT MIXING. LOW  
TEMPERATURES IN MOST AREAS MAY FAIL TO FALL OUT OF THE 60S.  
FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE SLIGHTLY ON FRIDAY  
AFTERNOON WITH THE WARM AND DRY AIRMASS IN PLACE. HOWEVER, WHILE  
THE HOT DRY WINDY INDEX SUGGEST OVER AN 80% PROBABILITY OF  
EXCEEDING THE 90TH PERCENTILE CONDITIONS, WONDER IF THIS ISN'T  
BEING BIASED A BIT BY THE STRONGER EVENING/OVERNIGHT WIND  
POTENTIAL (WHICH FALLS OUTSIDE THE LOWEST RH DROPS).  
 
SATURDAY-MONDAY: A SURFACE FRONT WILL START THE DAY SATURDAY  
SPRAWLED FROM NORTHWESTERN NEBRASKA THROUGH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AND  
INTO NORTHWEST MINNESOTA AT DAYBREAK. WITH A CONTINUED SLOWDOWN OF  
MID-LVL TROUGHING MOVING INTO THE ROCKIES, THIS WILL MEAN THAT THE  
FRONT REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY. AS A  
RESULT, EXPECTED A VERY WARM AND VERY WINDY DAY THROUGHOUT THE  
REGION. GFS/ECMWF AND THEIR ENSEMBLES BOTH SUGGEST THAT WINDS WILL  
FALL WELL OUT OF CLIMATOLOGY AND RAW GUSTS FROM BOTH MODELS SUGGEST  
GUSTS BETWEEN 30 AND 45 MPH MAY DEVELOP FROM DAYBREAK SATURDAY INTO  
SATURDAY NIGHT. THUS, HAVE BLENDED IN A HIGHER AMOUNT OF NBM 90TH  
PERCENTILE DATA OVER THAT 18 HOUR TIME FRAME, AND FURTHER UPWARDS  
ADJUSTMENTS MAY BE NEEDED. TEMPERATURES SATURDAY AGAIN RISE INTO THE  
UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S, SO THOSE WITH OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES WILL NEED  
TO STAY AWARE OF THE INCREASED HEAT POTENTIAL.  
 
THERE STILL REMAINS SOME MODEST AGREEMENT IN MEDIUM RANGE MODELS  
WITH THE TRACK AND INTENSITY OF THE MID-LVL SHORTWAVE EXITING THE  
ROCKIES THIS WEEKEND. THE LATEST ECMWF HAS TRENDED TOWARDS THE GFS  
BRINGING A COMPACT WAVE THROUGH THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLED THROUGH  
CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. THIS SYSTEM LIKELY PUSHES A  
COLD FRONT EASTWARD SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY, BUT DESPITE MORE  
WIDESPREAD QPF IN THE GFS BOTH MEDIUM RANGE MODELS SHOW FAIRLY  
STRONG CAPPING AHEAD OF THE BOUNDARY. IF PRECIPITATION CAN'T  
DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT, THEN THE GREATEST RAIN RISKS MAY SHIFT  
NORTHWEST OF THE CWA INTO THE DEFORMATION BAND OF THE SYSTEM. STILL  
PLENTY OF TIME TO WATCH TRENDS ON THIS ONE, THOUGH OVERALL  
INSTABILITY REMAINS LOW SO SEVERE WEATHER RISKS SHOULD REMAIN VERY  
LOW. THE FRONT PASSES SOUTHEAST EARLY SUNDAY AND WITH HIGH PRESSURE  
MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS, THE RAIN CHANCE LIKELY DIMINISHES  
QUICKLY. THE LATEST NBM MAY AGAIN BE TOO SPREAD OUT WITH POPS INTO  
SUNDAY AND MONDAY. HIGHER CONFIDENCE IN A BRIEF BUT SHARP COOLDOWN  
IN TEMPERATURES TOWARDS THE 60S TO START NEXT WEEK.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/
 
 
ISSUED AT 1152 AM CDT TUE SEP 30 2025  
 
VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AS A  
THICK HIGH LEVEL CLOUD BASE MOVES THROUGH. A FEW 5-7K FT CU MAY  
DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON, AS WINDS INCREASE SLIGHTLY FROM THE  
SOUTH.  
 
OVERNIGHT, CEILINGS MAY GRADUALLY LOWER WITH SCATTERED HIGH BASE  
SHOWERS POSSIBLE IN A NARROW CORRIDOR ALONG OR WEST OF I-29  
THROUGH DAYBREAK. VFR CONDITIONS REMAIN LIKELY THROUGH  
WEDNESDAY MORNING WITH SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW TURNING GUSTY FROM THE  
SOUTH LATE IN THE MORNING.  
 

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

 
 

 
 
DISCUSSION...DUX  
AVIATION...DUX  
 
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