239
FXUS63 KFSD 020348
AFDFSD

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
1048 PM CDT Sun Jun 1 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- High level Canadian wildfire smoke continues through tonight.
  Ground level smoke/haze is producing widespread reduced air
  quality with conditions slowly improving this evening and
  tonight from west to east. All those sensitive to air quality
  should use caution.

- Thunderstorm risks return late Monday afternoon into Monday
  night. A narrow corridor of severe weather risk is expected to
  develop over eastern South Dakota and adjacent areas of
  Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska after 4pm Monday. Severe risk
  diminishes toward midnight.

- Severe weather risks include hail up to ping pong ball size
  and brief downburst winds of 65 mph. Locally heavy rainfall is
  possible, but any flooding risk should be contained to urban
  areas.

- Temperatures return to seasonal normals for the remainder of
  the week, with some potential for widely scattered diurnal
  showers/thunderstorms each day.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 245 PM CDT Sun Jun 1 2025

CURRENTS THROUGH TONIGHT: Wildfire smoke aloft and at the surface
continues to stream over the area, with visibility at or below 5
miles for much of the area through early this afternoon. Air quality
has been in the moderate category or worse throughout the day; those
who are sensitive to poor air quality should continue to take
precautions. Winds have generally remained light to almost calm as
we have struggled to mix. Expect mixing to commence later this
afternoon with southwesterly winds. Temperatures have been a bit
slower to rise due to the smoke and the lack of mixing, and lowered
highs by a degree or two. Still expect to warm into the mid and
upper 80s.

Mid level ridge slides east tonight, shifting winds aloft to more
southerly. This slowly clears smoke from west to east overnight.
We`ll remain a bit breezy overnight with a tightening surface
pressure gradient and a bit of mixing overnight. Temperatures will
remain on the warmer side because of this, with lows in the lower to
mid 60s.

MONDAY-MONDAY NIGHT: Ridge axis moves east into IA Monday with split
flow - mid/upper level northern jet trough axis moves west out of
the Rockies and southern jet low pressure treks into the southern
Plains. 01.12z guidance came in with a bit stronger of a leading mid
level wave. This should bring an increase in mid level cloud cover,
and may provide a catalyst for development with WAA, especially with
01.12z guidance (namely the GFS and NAM) have come in a touch slower
with the surface cold front than previous and other models. Expect
instability to increase during the afternoon as dew points climb into
the 50s and lower to even mid 60s just ahead of the front and
temperatures across the area warm into the 80s and lower 90s. Storms
may begin to fire as early as 2-3 pm, and quickly become severe in
the narrow corridor of MUCAPE over 2000 J/kg. Most CAMs are later in
the development, with storms firing around 4-5 pm between the I-29
corridor and James River Valley. Storms should move east with the
front and the instability, with CAPE quickly dropping off through
the late evening hours. Shear values in our area around 25 knots or
less, with mid level lapse rates around 7 deg C/km. Expect the
severe threat to wane by midnight, especially given the strongest
shear values (0-6 km shear 40+ knots) are well offset to the west of
the instability. Greatest risk of severe storms is along and
northwest of a Tracy to Sioux Center to Sioux City line after 4 pm
with storms weakening east of MN/IA State Hwy 60. Storm mode will
generally be multi-cell clusters given the shear vectors and values.

Hazards: Hail to the size of ping pong balls (1.5") is possible,
especially with more discrete cells in initial development with the
aforementioned instability. 0-6 km bulk shear being around 25 knots
may limit this potential somewhat, but discrete storms may be able
to overcome lack of shear. Strong wind gusts to 65 mph are possible
with DCAPE values around 1000 J/kg and high PWAT values in addition
to the more linear mode expected. Tornadoes are not expected due to
the lack of shear and LCL heights over 4kft.

Rainfall: PWAT values are in the top 2.5% of values compared to
climatology. PWATs of 1.5-2", deep warm cloud layer (near or
exceeding 10kft), and efficient moisture transfer should lead to
efficient rainfall rates - with moderate (40-60%) chances of
exceeding 0.5" per hour and low (less than 20%) chances of 1"+ per
hour. 1 hour FFG ranges from 1.75" in northwestern IA to 2.5" in
south central SD. Widespread flash flooding is not expected;
however, heavier rainfall rates could lead to localized flash
flooding in urban areas as well as localized ponding on roadways and
other poor drainage areas. May also see some issues if locations see
multiple rounds of training storms. Rainfall totals for much of the
area half an inch to 1.5 inches, with lower amounts along a line
from Chamberlain to Huron and higher amounts south of I-90 into
northern NE.

TUESDAY: Upper level trough continues to move through during the day
on Tuesday, with surface high pressure sliding into western SD
during the day. Expect cooler than average temperatures with highs in
the 60s to lower 70s. Rain and clouds diminish from west to east
through the day and evening hours with the mid/upper level wave.

WEDNESDAY ONWARD: Numerous mid and upper level waves track through
broad upper trough stretching from the Hudson Bay to the
southwestern US. This leads to periodic and diurnally driven shower
and thunderstorm chances. Severe weather risk looks low at this
time. Temperatures return to near average for the first week of
meteorological summer - highs in the mid/upper 70s and lows in the
mid 50s.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z TUESDAY/...
Issued at 1048 PM CDT Sun Jun 1 2025

Southerly winds will increase after day break to sustained 18-22 kts
with gusts of 26-30 kts. Strongest gusts are expected between the
James River Valley and I-29 corridor. Winds will decrease slightly
after sunset, but continue to gust 20-25 kts through the end of the
period. A brief window of LLWS is possible at KHON as winds begin to
respond to the approach of a strong cold front. There is a chance
KFSD may experience sporadic LLWS between 02.11Z and 02.14Z, but
confidence was too low to include it in the TAF.

As the cold front progresses southeastward, showers and
thunderstorms are expected to develop along the front. Initially
these storms may become strong to severe, producing hail to the size
of ping pong balls, and wind gusts to 56 kts. Timing of the greatest
severe threat is between 4 pm and 9 pm. Showers will then decrease
in severity but continue into the overnight period.

&&

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

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...SG
AVIATION...AJP