Sunday, November 30, 2008

Beadle Bulls-eye is Back

It did prove to be a rather tricky travel day for some in our region... the rain/snow mix freezing on many bridges and roads made it quite dicey, hopefully you got to your destinations safely this past Holiday weekend. Another bulls-eye around Beadle county from this system, but just around an inch was reported from this system as opposed to the 3.5 inches last time. But we're lucky that we didn't get the snowstorm that they saw edging into the Ohio River Valley, that intense low pressure would not have been a fun thing to travel through. To recap this month though... the slight snow we saw Sunday didn't add much to the month for many people. In South Dakota, we saw a much drier and warmer November. We are about four inches BELOW what we're supposed to have and part of that was due to the first and third weeks of the month, with average temperatures 5-10 degrees above average. In fact we didn't see too many days dip below average, 12 days dipped just as few degrees below that mark while the other 18 days stayed at or well above average. And in the whole month, only 8 days had measurable precip. The warmer weather we had did keep a lot of that falling as rain, thus why we are behind on our snow total tally.

From the National Climate Prediction Center it looks like the next three months will continue this trend. Expect Dec.-Feb. to be at or just a bit above average. If this holds true, we could be talking about heavier, wetter snowfalls on the storms that do pass through.

~KDLT Meteorologist Jesse Ritka

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Tricky Travel Forecast


Well the jet stream (the translucent blue "tube" with the little yellow lines) is well to our South, which means a chilly day for Sunday. And the Sunday after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year, so I figured we'd stay in that theme for the blog today. Messy weather can be expected in the Ohio River Valley as well as in the SouthEast where a mildly intense area of low pressure with an associated front is pushing through. The worst will be driving right where the rain-snow line lies... In our area, we are expecting about .3 inches of snow, we shouldn't see much over a half inch maximum, but travel won't be too great if you drive in the morning because in addition to the snow, winds from the NW will be picking up. The snow in South Dakota should come to a halt around noon, but as the precip. fades... winds will be increasing. So pick your battle if you are going to be on the road: lighter winds in the morning but snow will be falling or stronger winds in the afternoon and drier skies... either way the roads will be wet. And if you dare to drive Sunday night, be careful of ice on the roads as some of the snow melts then refreezes. Safe traveling to you!
~KDLT Meteorologist Jesse Ritka

Friday, November 28, 2008

Unsettled Weather For This Weekend...

We are looking for a bit of a change in weather conditions over the next few days... a dose of cooler weather, clouds, and also some snow potential - although not very much.

This is a computer model image of the snow potential for Saturday to Sunday:

If you trusted the models outright you'd think we might see up to 2 inches in NE South Dakota, along with up to an inch near Sioux Falls. That is possible - but not likely to be exact. I expect a dusting to 1/2 inch of snow in the Sioux Falls area. Not much more than that is likely.

Here is what you can expect as far as travel conditions if you are headed out the door or returning home on Saturday:

Snow showers will start up, then, heading toward Sunday. If you are going anywhere on Sunday here is what you can expect:

Make sure you drive safely if you are headed anywhere. If you are curious, dial 511 on your phone for the latest in road conditions, as well as checking SafeTravelUSA.com/SD/ for any maps or webcam images.

Have a great weekend!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Nice Day

Today looks like a good day to go shopping. Convenient then because its Black Friday. Looks like we will see some good sunshine today and will probably just have some high clouds. That shows up on the Relative Humidity map below. The blue colors are indicating high humidity levels which will aid in cloud development. This is the lower levels of the atmosphere, showing a lot of pinks, meaning that there is low humidity which is not conducive for cloud formation so the lower levels should be clear today.
This is good news because it will be pretty mild today with temperatures expected to be in the 40's by noon, as shown below. High temperatures will be mainly in the mid to upper 40's so I hope you enjoy your Black Friday!
~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Things are looking good for the holiday and the day after (Black Friday). We found a couple of festive pictures for you to enjoy...

Here is one of a sunspot that resembles a turkey, courtesy of SpaceWeather.com - I actually fell for this for about 2 seconds before realizing that there is no way a sunspot could really look like that:


Now that you've spent a few seconds looking at that picture, here is another:

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Cool and Breezy

Cold front pushing through the area this morning bring cooler air and windy conditions into the Sioux Empire. We will be fighting those winds for most of the day and are seeing them already this morning. Here is a current surface map of the upper midwest as of 8am. This is the main tool we look at to see current surface conditions.

There are a couple of things to take note of; the wind barbs and the temperatures. The wind barbs are the flag looking items that extend out from the circles and the temperatures are the numbers in red. With some winds already sustained at 15 knots (~20mph) and with temperatures in the upper 20's and low 30's, wind chills this morning are ranging from the middle 10's to the low 20's. Now, we are expecting highs in the upper 30's and low 40's but with the winds, it will feel like temperatures are in 20's and low 30's for much of the day. Its a little decieving outside today so bundle up a bit if you head outdoors.

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Saturday & Sunday: Snow Possible?

We are seeing some mixed results from the computer models - but what seems to be the case are some early flurries on Saturday. Followed by some late flurries as well - with snow showers taking over toward the North early Sunday.

Here is what you can expect Saturday for the most part - some of those flurry patches could end up being a little east or west of their locations in the map:

Then, toward Sunday - as you guessed by the mention of it above - we can expect some snow showers to move into the area. We're going to be tracking that potential in more detail as the time comes up, but for now just remember to plan ahead and dial 511 from your phone before you travel or go to SafeTravelUSA for the latest maps and webcam images.

This is Sunday's travel forecast map:

Make sure you stay tuned to KDLT for the latest travel forecasts. We'll be updating them as often as possible either on-air or on the web, or both.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

The Winds are Back

Today is looking good; nice and calm and temperatures will be well above normal. But unfortunately it doesnt last long as tomorrow we will be getting cooler and windier. Tonight we will see a cold front pass through the state and immediately following that front will be windier conditions. Below is a picture of just how windy one of the forecast models thinks it will be.
The wind barbs are showing sustained winds of 15-20 knots (~20-25 mph) during the afternoon hours. With highs expected to be in the 30's and 40's, wind chills will be near 30 at best in the daytime hours. Which means that the morning and evening hours could see wind chills near zero at times. So if you have outdoor plans for your Thanksgiving, definately bundle up.

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Travel Conditions: Smooth Through Friday

We're going to be seeing a great stretch of weather continuing even into the early portion of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. If you are headed out tonight or Wednesday you can expect clear skies and no hazards whatsoever.

Looking ahead toward Thursday we can expect some patchy flurries over the Sioux Empire. The best chance for any accumulation will be over northern and northeastern Minnesota.

Toward Saturday things get a little more interesting - and a little less organized. We are going to be seeing patchy snow showers and flurries. That, coupled with some colder temperatures that will reach only up near the freezing mark, will make driving a little bit more treacherous.

If you're headed back Saturday or Sunday make sure to plan for this if you are driving. If you are flying through Denver airport you can expect some delays Saturday night as well.

Drive or fly safely!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Christmas Just A Month Away

Believe it or not, christmas is now just a month away. Wow, doesn't time fly. Well, hardly any snow to speak of for the next 7 days but what about the time of the year when most people want to see snow. I am a traditionalist when it comes to christmas and I want to see snow on the ground when its time for the holiday. So, here is the U.S. probability that we will see a white christmas. For people in the Sioux Falls area and generally most of us in the I-29 corridor in South Dakota, we have a 60-75 percent chance of seeing a white christmas. For places out west like Pierre, Chamberlain, and Winner, its only about a 40-50 percent chance. So, keep your fingers crossed and maybe we will just get lucky enough to have a white christmas.

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Monday, November 24, 2008

Another Quick Post... Flight Delay Website

Just in case you are flying to your destination this Thanksgiving, I was browsing the web and found a site from the FAA where some of the major airports have their delays listed.

http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp



I haven't had a chance to test it out, but maybe you can if you are flying and let us know what you think.

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Historical Snowstorms

This data comes courtesy of our local National Weather Service office in Sioux Falls. It is historical snowfall data from Thanksgiving time.

SEP 18 1929 TRACE EARLIEST SNOWFLAKES

SEP 25 1939 .3 EARLIEST MEASURABLE SNOWFALL

SEP 28 1985 .9 NEXT EARLIEST MEASURABLE

SNOWFALL...UP TO 18 INCHES

OF SNOW REPORTED IN TRIPP

COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL

SOUTH DAKOTA WITH THIS SYSTEM

OCT 1 1999 2.7

OCT 8/9 1970 5.0

OCT 17/18 1898 6.1

OCT 19 1982 3.3 5.5 INCHES MEASURED IN

SOUTHERN SIOUX FALLS WITH

UP TO 12 INCHES SNOW IN THE

NEWTON HILLS 25 MILES SOUTH

OF SIOUX FALLS

OCT 20 1905 5.0

OCT 26 1918 4.0

OCT 28 1925 4.5

OCT 31/NOV 1 1991 11.2 12.1 INCHES STORM TOTAL...

HEAVIEST SNOW SO EARLY

IN SEASON

NOV 1 1928 5.0

NOV 2 1992 2.8 4.1 INCHES TOTAL NOV 1-3

NOV 3 1990 4.6

NOV 7 1924 5.5

NOV 8 1985 8.0 2ND HEAVIEST SNOW SO EARLY

NOV 8/9 1977 5.6 6.1 INCHES STORM TOTAL

NOV 9 1932 5.0

NOV 9/10 1946 7.9

NOV 9/10 1896 6.0 7.8 INCHES STORM TOTAL

NOV 10 1998 12.6 13.4 INCHES STORM TOTAL

NOV 11/12 2000 5.7

NOV 12 1959 7.5

NOV 14/15 1947 6.4 7.0 INCHES STORM TOTAL

NOV 14/15 1926 5.0

NOV 15/16 2000 5.3

NOV 18/19 1948 9.1 11.8 INCHES STORM TOTAL

NOV 19/20 1975 9.2

NOV 21 1909 6.0 7.0 INCHES STORM TOTAL

NOV 21/22 1979 11.8

NOV 24/25 1993 7.5

NOV 26/27 2001 12.1 12.6 INCHES STORM TOTAL

NOV 27 1994 9.6

NOV 27/28 1983 11.0 15.0 INCHES IN SOUTHERN

SIOUX FALLS

NOV 28/29 2005 5.9 ICE STORM AND BLIZZARD JUST WEST

OF SIOUX FALLS

NOV 30 1954 7.6

NOV 30 2005 6.6

NOV 30/DEC 1 1981 7.0 9.0 INCHES IN SOUTHERN SIOUX FALLS

Sunshine

A pretty nice weekend overall will lead to a great first half of the work week. A little cool but still at or above average for this time of the year. The big thing over the next couple of days is that we will see plenty of sunshine, probably the most we have seen in a while. Below is a picture of the relative humidity values for a big chunk of the atmosphere for Monday and Tuesday. Pink colors indicate low humidities and blue colors indicate high humidities. Well, the lower the humidity, the harder it is for clouds to form so we can expect mostly sunny skies both today and tomorrow.

Enjoy the sun!!!

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Snow Melt

Okay, I love the snow, don't get me wrong, but it takes a bit to ease me into winter. Call it wary winter woes or severe snow shock... but when the first flakes fall and stick to the ground... I'd prefer it to leave. So I was happy with the day of melting today and that we'll be witnessing over the next few days.

Looks like we'll see this type of picture for Thanksgiving, which is good news for any travel plans you may have. One thing to watch is the snow chances Thursday night and into Friday, right now it looks like just a few flurries and a potential dusting, not looking for more than a half inch of snow from this system, but we'll keep our eyes on it. Other than the slight snow potential, this looks like a very tame week, so enjoy the relative warmer temps!
~KDLT Meteorologist Jesse Ritka

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Snowy Start to Saturday Leads to a Foggy Forecast

Here's a look at all of the snow we got from Friday night through Saturday morning. The hardest hit area was in Beadle county, Huron reported the most snow with 3.5 inches of snow total. A snow alert was issued effective at midnight, and city officials ask that no one parks on East-West streets. Most other places saw under an inch. The great thing about this snow is that it's relatively dry, so it's easy to jut brush off or sweep away with a broom for all the places that saw less than an inch. On the flip side, if you aren't wearing shoes with grips on the bottom, it may prove to be a little slick. The snow that fell along with light winds and clearing skies are the perfect recipe for fog tonight and early in the morning. The snow pack actually provides a very low layer of moisture that enables fog to form... as the surface cools... the temperature of the air reaches the saturation point - or dew point. Since the snow is fresh, there's more moisture in the area, so it doesn't take too long to hit that point. Once the saturation point is hit, the moisture condenses out forming a very low cloud, or fog as we know it is formed. Now this couldn't happen if we had higher winds because they would mix the air up enough to stop the air from cooling enough to condense. Clouds overhead would also trap heat from the day and again stop the air from cooling. But with light winds, clearing skies and a fresh layer of boosted moisture. . . perfect conditions for fog. Be careful on the roads if you are driving in the morning, things should clear up by 10am.
~KDLT Meteorologist Jesse Ritka

Friday, November 21, 2008

Snow & New 7-Day Format

Greetings from the KDLT weather department. We have been anxiously following our snowstorm coming in - however weak or strong it ends up - as well as anxiously waiting to unveil our new 7-day forecast format. This new format will make a lot more sense visually to help you understand where the overnight lows will occur - as well as moving the percent chance of precipitation to the bottom instead of the top of the slides.

Hopefully you like it. If you have any questions or suggestions for this graphic or any others feel free to post your ideas here or to email us at weather@kdlt.com to suggest things.

As for the snow - this storm has been throwing us for a loop all week, but it's finally starting to show its true colors. It seems like our snowfall forecast 2 days ago has ended up being our final forecast. Yesterday the locations ended up right, just not the numbers - we were talking about up to an inch of snow instead of an inch+, but that has changed.


What we are waiting to see as I write this are any snowfall updates. If we get any reports of heavier snow we'll have to raise some of the forecast totals. For now you can probably expect 1-2" of snow in the Sioux Falls area. It seems like toward Mobridge in the North and Brookings in the East we can expect 2 or 2+ inches of snow. It should be interesting to see how this all ends up as you have probably seen the blog posts of the past couple of days. For how low the totals will end up it sure has been an interesting storm to forecast.

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Feels Like Christmas

Temperatures this morning got amazingly cold for this time of the year, especially since there was no snow on the ground which would typically help us get that cold. The map below are temperatures at 11:59 pm on Thursday which actually ended up being our low temperature for Thursday. Sioux Falls was already down to 9 degrees. We finally bottomed out at 5 am when we hit 5 degrees which is 14 degrees below average. But look how cold parts of Canada was. Even Canada isnt usually that cold this time of the year with temps some 10, 20, even 30 degrees below zero. The line I have drawn on here is the 10 degree isotherm, or basically the 10 degree line. North of that line, temperatures were colder this morning then 10, and south of that line, temperatures were warmer this morning then 10.

However, this wedge of cold air over the midwest will thankfully begin to shift East today so tonight and tomorrow look warmer. Bundle up!

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Thursday, November 20, 2008

*COLD* Temperatures Friday Morning

Cold air overhead, calming winds, and clear skies. What do they mean? An extremely cold night ahead. Our average overnight low is about 19 degrees for today, and tonight we will look to get closer to the zero mark. Sisseton may actually end up below zero. Chilly stuff.

You can see from this picture above, that after I did some research we found tonight will likely be our coldest night since early to mid March. Make sure your jacket is ready for wearing. Then we get a little light dose of snow overnight to early Saturday. Don't expect much, though, as things seem to be diminishing snow totals-wise. We'll still be keeping a close eye on this system to make sure nothing changes any further.

Stay warm and have a great night!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Cold Night

The coldest night of the season is on its way so if you dont have your heavy winter jackets out yet, you probably want to dust them off tonight. The center of high pressure in southern Canada is expected to make its way south today and that will clear out most of the clouds and calm the winds down. Now, because cold air is more dense then warm air, the cold air sinks to the surface and thats why it can get so cold. Here are some numbers that a couple of the models are saying for overnight lows.
All you have to do is look at those numbers and you will realize how difficult of a forecast the lows are tonight with the model numbers 5-10 degrees off from one another. I am going to lean toward the warmer temps (relatively speaking) just because there is no snow on the ground and winds arent likely to be calm for very long. So I am leaning toward the 10 degree mark for Sioux Falls. We will see how it plays out but anyway you slice it, it's going to be cold so bundle up tonight!

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Continuing To Monitor Snow Potential

We are still looking at the potential for accumulating snow, unfortunately (or if you are a fan, fortunately). What we are looking at is a very weak storm system that will dredge up some moisture and combine it with some chilly temperatures to create snow.

The big question is going to be exactly where the range in temperatures of about -10 degrees Celsius to -20 degrees Celsius will end up. If it is centered on the biggest area of humidity/uplift in the atmosphere, we will be looking at some decent accumulations closing in on 2-3" of snow, or even more if you find the center of that blue shaded area. We'll be monitoring that close. If warmer air hangs around we'll see a lot less snow for Friday to Friday night.

That's it for now. Stay warm tonight and especially during a chilly night Thursday night to Friday morning!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Here We Go Again

As Aaron mentioned yesterday, there is some big uncertainty about the next storm system that will plague the state. Well, things are becoming a bit more clear this morning and you are in luck if you like snow. Now, Im going to go ahead and say right off the bat that we are not expecting a blizzard like we saw a couple of weeks ago by any stretch of the imagination. However, the forecast models have really come together over the last 12-24 hours and are all beginning to agree that parts of South Dakota will get atleast a couple inches of snow. Below is one such model. This is a snowfall accumulation map for the Eastern United States over the next 4 days. With the legend down at the bottom, you can see how much snow this particular model is predicting.

Using a complex formula to figure out snow to liquid ratios, the model thinks that there will be a swath of snow where we recieve anywhere from 1-6" of the white stuff. Now keep in mind that this is just one of many models, all of which say a little something different and all have their own tendencies. For instance, this models tendency is to be too high on snowfall amounts. So this model's forecast is not set in stone. But, combining all of the models's outputs, the National Weather Service has come up with a forecast for the tri-state area.

They are calling for a swath of 1-2" of snow. That seems a bit more reasonable and I am going to agree with them for now. But remember, things can change very quickly so stay tuned to KDLT or this blog for further updates down the road.

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Snow For Friday?

One thing we are watching closely is a fairly weak storm system headed our way for Friday to Friday night. This storm has the computer models in kind of a frenzy - with some saying we'll be in the mid-30s and partly to mostly cloudy - but dry - and some saying we are going to get some light snowfall that could accumulate.

Here are a few examples from the computer models that all are for about the same time period:

A)

B)

C)
Exhibit A is a Japanese computer model that tends to overdo precipitation events. If that came to pan out we'd be looking at a few inches of snow. We are nixing that one. Exhibit B is a Canadian model. They keep sending us their cold air, so we're going to look at that one with skepticism (just kidding). What we are looking at, though, is the big difference between image B and image C. One has N/NE South Dakota seeing some light patches of snow, and the other has S/SW South Dakota seeing some snow. Where will it fall? That is a good question. I tend to have a lot of faith in the model that was used to create image C. I would guess we'll see some patches of snow where a dusting might accumulate, though, so stay tuned. You'll see on our forecast online or on KDLT 5/46 what we come up with over the next couple of days.

Have a great night and enjoy some warming as compared to last night!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

The Windy Month

November is typically a very windy month for the state of South Dakota. But it has felt like the wind just wont quit over the passed few weeks. Well, the numbers are beginning to prove just that as we are already above average in many of the wind categories for the month of November. Here are some November wind statistics for Sioux Falls;
As you see by the table above, Sioux Falls is above average for the sustained wind speed and has already exceeded the average number of days with gusts over 30mph and the month of November is barely half over. Unfortunately, we can expected to add to both of these numbers over the next few days as the breezy conditions are expected to continue.

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Monday, November 17, 2008

Clouds: Be Gone With You

I don't know about you (I'm guessing I might on this matter, though), but I am not a fan of clouds and I am willing to bet you are not either. Clouds do put sunny days in perspective, though, which definitely helps us appreciate the nice & sunny days a bit more. So, while Cody and Jesse have discussed some big warm-ups and cool-downs in the past few blog posts, I will talk a little more about some nice clearing we are looking for.

A big part of forecasting has to do with figuring out where clouds will or will not be. When they are overhead during the day we have lower high temperatures, and overnight we have higher low temperatures (think of it like a thin blanket). A big part of forecasting for clouds comes from looking at model-predicted (or actually) relative humidity at different levels of the atmosphere. This is how we know things are looking up for Tuesday and Wednesday:
What you can see from that image is little bands of green. Those are areas of higher relative humidity at 700mb (above about 30% of the mass of the atmosphere). They will likely be some thin mid-level clouds - and they are out of here!

Looking to the west on that picture you can see that there aren't any more green blobs. That doesn't mean we'll be cloud-free, but we'll see a lot fewer of them. Definitely fewer of these pesky ones that hug close to the ground.

Enjoy!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Warmth

Well, if you are sick of the cold already, I have some good news for you. We well be warming up starting tomorrow and finishing Wednesday. I know its not going to be for the weekend when most people want nice weather but I think for this time of the year, we will just have to take what we can get. The three pictures below are from just one of the many forecast models that we look at on a daily basis to determine the weather in South Dakota. These are in succession starting today at noon, tomorrow at noon, then Wednesday at noon. You can see the drastic warmup of temperatures at 850mb (5000 ft).

This is what we use to determine temperatures at the surface. When there is a warm up expected above the earth's surface, then that typically will correspond to a warm up at the surface as well. Now, to get the really warm air, we would need to bring this 5000 ft air down to the ground because sinking air compresses and heats up. Well, at this point, the atmosphere doesn't look like its going to be very efficient in doing so. So that means, temperatures wont be warming up as much as they could. Never the less, warmer air can still be anticipated. And with us now into the middle of November, any warmer air that we can get is a plus. Enjoy!

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Warm Weather on the Way!

I'm going to ignore the fact that Monday will be another cold day with some clouds and talk more about the warm weather we are expecting for midweek. More sunshine will accompany southerly winds on Tuesday and though it will be a bit breezy, temperatures especially in the West will start to climb out of the 30s we've been seeing. The sad thing about this warm up is that in the Eastern half will only put our temperatures into the 40s and low 40s is actually normal for this time of year. Wednesday with a continuation of southerly winds and even more sunshine is when we can expect above average temperatures. As a whole however, we are still above average for the month as far as temperatures go. But these temperatures aren't going to stick around for too long. We'll see another blast of this cold Canadian air Wednesday night and into Thursday. This change in air masses will bring a chance for some flurries and maybe even a good dusting of snow on Friday. As if all these temperature changes aren't enough, we're going to see another switch for next weekend. But this coming weekend will be a lot nicer than this weekend, looks like more sunshine is on tap as well as temperatures that are close to, if not above, average. It is a very mild week, which is relatively unusual for November, normally we'd see at least one decent storm system move through, but it looks like the highlight this week will be some mild snow showers on Friday. Of course that is still five days out, so things could change, but it doesn't look to be that intense of a system, sorry snow lovers!

~KDLT Meteorologist Jesse Ritka

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Cold Front Starting To Surface

Ooooh the cold and fast winds are already starting to take over! Most of the state is seeing light winds from the South through Saturday night, but as that cold front (that I poorly drew on) pushes East and sags to the South, we'll see those winds switch to being from the Northwest and increase. Not the best day for hunters, but thankfully a deer's a bit bigger than a pheasant, so you really can't blame the wind too much unless you get caught under a heavy gust :) The sad thing about this one cold front is that there are going to be several shots of cold air coming down from Canada over the next week. But if you don't like the snow... don't worry, none of these cold shots are going to bring any accumulating snow, just a few flurries. Happy Hunting!

~KDLT Meteorologist Jesse Ritka

Friday, November 14, 2008

Huge November Shift In Temperatures

Even though it was kind of warm for Thursday (highs in the upper 40s and low 50s), you'll want to check out the graphic below to remind yourself of just how big of a shift we have seen this month:

That's basically a shift from summer to winter in the past 2 weeks! If you thought it's been a pretty drastic shift and weren't quite sure - now you have your proof!

Have a great night and bundle up! At least we have some mid to upper 40s in the forecast toward Sunday!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Reminiscing On The Blizzard From Last Week...

Not to dredge up old pent up anger/frustration/sadness... but we absolutely HAVE to post these totals now that the NWS in Rapid City has a nice map released. Let's be thankful (assuming you are not reading this from the Rapid City area) that we didn't get this much snow - particularly combined with some of those gusts we saw during the storm.One thing you'll notice and the main reason I wanted to show this: The brighter pinkish color representing 37-54 inches! That means some places around Deadwood saw 4.5 FEET of snow.

As of now we do not have any large storms in the forecast - but it is that time of year, so you never know... Have a great weekend!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Fall=Wind

Today we get to enjoy what fall is known for across much of the country; wind. Fall is typically the windiest season of the year and it will really live up to its name today with wind advisories in effect for the James River Valley and points westward. Also, with the temperatures expected to be mainly in the 30's this afternoon, its going to feel even colder. Just look at the wind chill chart below. The temperature is at the top and the wind is on the left. So, if you combine the two like we will today, you get the wind chill which is what it feels like outside against your skin. So with temperatures in the 30's today and sustained winds anywhere from 20-40 mph, wind chills will be in the teens and twenties. So bundle up because it will feel like winter is showing its face a little early this year.So is there any good news? Well, it wont last long as Sunday we are expecting highs back into the 40's and 50's with calm winds and partly cloudy skies.
~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Will The Sun Ever Come Back?

We've had quite a string of days with cloudy or mostly cloudy days (5 days already in November with clouds covering at least 80% of the sky, and 3 more partly cloudy days). That trend should get a little bit of a break as we head into the weekend and the start of this coming week.

Take a look at this map:

What this map shows is drier air moving into the area. It's the average relatively humidity for the middle third of the atmosphere - where a lot of clouds form and stay. In the circled area we are getting an injection of 20-30% humidity, pushing in to an area of 30-40% humidity, which is already lower than those bluer colors (higher humidity) that we have been seeing for days now. Look for some peaks of sun to come through, finally, and make fall a little bit sunnier of a period - at least for a couple days.

Have a great night!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer