Sunday was pleasant in eastern KELOLAND, with seasonable temperatures in the 80s. There was some wildfire smoke at cloud level, and we’ll probably see more of that the next few days. Wildfires burned in the Black Hills, and it was hot. Rapid City topped out over a hundred degrees, which is not pleasant for firefighting efforts.
Overnight skies will be clear to partly cloudy, with a southerly breeze in all but the western edge of South Dakota. Lows will be in the 60s.
Monday will be mostly sunny and much warmer in Sioux Falls and eastern KELOLAND. A brisk south wind and abundant sunshine will push temperatures near 90 degrees. Rapid City and the Hills will have a north wind, which is good for attacking those fires. But the north wind will blow at 20-40 mph, which could cause flames to spread. The NE corner of South Dakota could get hit with some thunderstorms dropping down from North Dakota, and there is a slight risk they could become severe with strong winds.
We’ll have a gentle northerly breeze on Tuesday, with showers possible around Sioux Falls. Temperatures will be cool for early August, in the upper 70s. The rest of the week looks fairly dry, with temperatures slowly climbing back to the 80s for the weekend – and 90s in western South Dakota…