SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A very active forecast is ahead for the KELOLAND region over the next several days. First, we’ll begin with the Futurecast outlook that takes us out to Easter.
You can see Tuesday’s forecast features north winds and much cooler temperatures with 40s north and 50s across the south. Precipitation chances will begin to organize Wednesday in western and central South Dakota. We’ll likely see the precipitation rates increase Wednesday night into Thursday. Snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain will all fall across our region. We’ll break down more details in the sections below, but expect a lull in the activity late Thursday before the second round comes into the forecast. Additional ice is forecast along with heavier snow in the northern half of South Dakota. We’ll address snow predictions below as well.
The best chance of icing will be north of Sioux Falls in the Brookings and Marshall area. We feel strongly the wind will turn to the east, then northeast, and eventually to the north by late Thursday morning. If the air is cold enough and slightly drier at the surface, the heavier moisture thrown over the top will likely cool before it hits the ground. As always, ice is difficult to forecast, but there is good agreement that this area has the best chance of ice with round one. More ice is possible with round two across a larger area of KELOLAND.
Our snow prediction is a hybrid between the “traditional” and the AI runs of the European model. The AI data is still slightly farther south, which plays a more significant role for North Dakota in the first round of snow. A wide band of “plowable” snow is likely, with the potential for several inches of snow in the blue band. More numbers will come out later Tuesday.
If you like probabilities, we have some maps to show you. Keep in mind that tallies both rounds one and two together.
Even the odds of over 12″ of snow are good in much of northern South Dakota. We’ll continue to monitor the trends the next 24 hours and beyond.
The total water with this system is significant in central and eastern KELOLAND. The far southwest, however, is the least likely to pick up significant moisture.
Here are the details of the forecast…