


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Issued by NWS Sioux Falls, SD
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722 FXUS63 KFSD 170350 AFDFSD Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 1050 PM CDT Thu Oct 16 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Scattered showers and thunderstorms most likely west of highway 81 this afternoon into the evening. Severe weather is not expected. - Strong wave moves through on Saturday but moisture is limited. Scattered showers, possibly some thunder, and windy behind the cold front in the afternoon and evening. - Cool and dry Saturday night into Sunday with near normal temperatures. Small threat for frost on Sunday morning. - Above normal temperatures Monday before another cool front drops temperatures back to near or a bit below normal the remainder of the week. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 218 PM CDT Thu Oct 16 2025 Broad warm air advection ahead of an incoming upper level wave along with relatively weak instability, generally less than 600 J/kg, will allow for scattered showers and thunderstorms into the night. The better chances for thunderstorms will be before about 10 pm. Severe weather is very unlikely. The low level dry air is fairly shallow which does not support enhanced downburst potential and the freezing level is close to 12 kft which would need a fairly strong updraft to produce larger hail that could fall through the 2 miles of above freezing air, and 600 J/kg CAPE is not going to produce that strong of an updraft. So, the main threats from any thunderstorms will be brief heavy rain and lightning and if a storm can get strong enough pea sized hail. Otherwise temperatures will be very mild, especially near and east of highway 81 with lows from the mid 50s to lower 60s. Cooler air will begin to filter into central SD later tonight with lows in the mid 40s more likely. Friday should be a mild day in the wake of the exiting wave and ahead of the next wave expected later Friday night into Saturday. Westerly surface flow and temperatures in the upper 60s to lower 70s are expected under sunny skies. Fire weather should be kept mostly in check with surface relative humidity expected to remain at or above 40 percent. Late Friday night into Saturday a wave will dive southeast and bring the next shot for showers. Precipitation chances will remain scattered with some weaker elevated instability. The main concern with this wave will be some gusty winds with gusts of 35 to 40 mph possible. This may bring some elevated fire weather concerns but once again the afternoon relative humidity is expected to remain above 40 percent. An active upper level pattern will not leave much room for lighter winds as we head into Sunday and early next week. Cooler air will filter in behind the wave Saturday, dropping lows into the 30s and lower 40s Sunday morning. It does look like wind will remain around 5 to 10 mph so the threat for frost is fairly low. If winds can drop off long enough Sunday morning then there may be a few more locations in the mid 30s and we could see a little frost. Another fast moving system will move through on Monday but precipitation is not expected. The flow will remain fairly active throughout the next week, but precipitation chances are pretty low. Temperatures should be near to a touch below normal. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1050 PM CDT Thu Oct 16 2025 Latest radar shows a band of showers west of the James River streaming northeastwards early this evening. These showers will slowly wane through the overnight hours while translating eastwards along a cold front. Ceilings and visibilities remain at VFR levels though a few sites have shown visibilities falling to MVFR/IFR/LIFR thresholds. MVFR ceilings look to be ab bit more common on the backside of the showers and last for a few hour at any one individual point. These same showers will drift eastwards through the night before exiting the area tomorrow morning. Light winds persist overnight before turning out of the west tomorrow morning. Gusts up to 15-25 knots is expected for the afternoon hours tomorrow. The westerly winds will finish out the TAF period on a waning trend. && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...None. MN...None. IA...None. NE...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...08 AVIATION...Meyers