Questions About The Middle Of Next Week: Warm Or Cold?

We talked about the big warm-up this weekend over the last couple of days - and it has started to look even better. We're talking about some temperatures close to 50 for highs on Saturday - 51, in fact, for Sioux Falls. It gets even better for Sunday and Monday - with highs of about 58 for Sunday and 61 for Monday - so we've finally added 60s to the forecast!

The questions really start to show up toward Tuesday to Wednesday. We're looking for the jetstream to start to dip farther toward the South - after initial indicators pointed toward it actually building into a ridge (which basically would have meant we'd see sun and warmth, you can post here or email us at weather@kdlt.com if you want to know what a ridge is with regard to weather). Here is what the latest computer model runs are showing us for the jetstream on Wednesday:

While it might or might not seem obvious to you, the jetstream in this chart is that band of yellows and reds on the map. That happens about 60-80% of the way to the absolute top of the atmosphere, so it's WAY up there - but it still has a significant impact on our temperatures. It basically separates the colder air to the North from the warmer air to the South. In this frame the center is located right over Aberdeen and Sisseton and Milbank - but just a couple days ago it was over the North Dakota and Canada border!

I was hoping to add those 70s into the forecast - and instead we're looking at 40s. It should be interesting to see how next week *actually* turns out.

Have a great weekend! If you like warmth and BBQ weather - Sunday might look like this for you:


~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer