Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Issued by NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Versions:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
277 FXUS63 KFSD 122338 AFDFSD Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 638 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Scattered light rain and sprinkles move in around daybreak tomorrow and gradually dissipate by mid-day. Precipitation amounts will be light with a slow temperature recovery towards 70 degrees in the afternoon. - Scattered rain and non-severe thunderstorms arrive by daybreak Monday. A brief, localized, and conditional risk for severe storms develops Monday afternoon in NW Iowa and NE Nebraska. - Near normal temperatures for the rest of the week with increasing rain chances during the second half of the week. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 106 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026 THIS AFTERNOON: A perfect early fall Saturday across the region as any lingering sprinkles to showers have move away from the area. Quiet conditions will continue into the evening with winds eventually turning light and variable after 00Z. TONIGHT: Temperatures will fall quickly this evening towards the 40s before upper and then mid-lvl clouds increase after midnight. The settling of a mid-lvl trough into the Dakotas will increase mid- lvl dPVA but also layered frontogenesis focused at the 850 mb level near and south of the Missouri River and 700:600 mb frontogenesis near or north of Highway 14. CAMs and some lower resolution guidance struggling on the placement of this lift, leading to a higher than typical spread in PoPs by time lift is maximized near or after daybreak. High cloud bases will keep QPF light. SUNDAY: Morning light sprinkles/rain will persist at times through the morning focused in or or two narrowing bands. As the vorticity passes east late in the morning, we should see this activity dissipate, but leave a lingering mid-lvl cloud field in the area. Temperatures will recover slowly in the afternoon, but may struggle to reach the 70 degree mark. SUNDAY NIGHT-MONDAY: Shortwave ridging moving through the Plains early Sunday evening and early in the overnight hours will keep skies clear allowing for another quick temperature fall. After midnight hours, models remain in good agreement that troughing arriving into the Western High Plains will induce a 40 knot LLJ through central South Dakota and Nebraska. Convergence on this LLJ will spark scattered convection that may arrive into the Missouri River valley communities by 12Z. This non-severe convection continues to lift northeast Monday morning with most of the focus before 18Z. Given the orientation of the LLJ lingering and persistent showers may continue in the afternoon. My big concern on Monday may be with temperatures given ongoing cloud debris into the afternoon. Latest NBM 25/75th percentile spread suggests 7-12 degree temperature variance, with the 10/90th spread as high as 17 degrees. While we certainly could see highs in the middle to upper 70s, clouds could also hold us considerably lower. Severe weather risks Monday afternoon remain focused in only the very far portions of the CWA where there may be potential for a warm front to lift northward. Greatest potential remains focused across northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa from 3pm to 7pm. It`s also very possible that continued convective debris really prevents any meaning warming to arrive and limits the risk further south. TUESDAY-SATURDAY: We`ll remain on the cool side of the baroclinic zone for the remainder of the work week. With mid-lvl flow remaining westerly, this will present fewer opportunities for any large scale surge of warm air northward. Both limiting high temperatures to the upper 60s to lower 70s (near seasonal normals), but also keeping severe weather risks minimal. Medium range ensembles hint at two timeframes of focus for rainfall focused around Wednesday (lighter amounts), and then late Thursday and Friday where stronger synoptic lift enters the Plains and forces more abundant low-lvl moisture northward. Ensembles have been trending the probabilities for >0.25" higher each model run and this trend may continue based on the 12Z data. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY/... Issued at 635 PM CDT Sat Sep 12 2026 Light rain showers look to develop tonight and linger through the morning Sunday for areas north of Highway-20 and through the early afternoon near and south of there. Some brief pockets of MVFR visibilities may accompany the heaviest showers, but confidence was not high enough to include any category changes at the TAF sites at this time. Winds will turn light and variable this evening and overnight, picking up out of the east through the day Sunday to around 5-10 kts, slightly higher in south-central South Dakota by the end of the period. && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...None. MN...None. IA...None. NE...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Dux AVIATION...Samet