Warming Today - And Thunderstorms Sunday?

Well, it's almost spring - and it SURE feels like it!

You will probably agree- no matter where you live. We saw temperatures ranging from about the 50s to the North with some lingering snow all the way up to the lower 70s toward the South and the Southeast! Today in Sioux Falls we are still waiting on the "official" high temperature from the airport - but so far we're officially at 69 degrees for the first time since we hit 70 on November 5th. That means it was over 4 months since we were warm like this!

That map above is from 5pm this evening. Look at those colors! They even look warm - and correlate to lower 70s out there!

Now, with spring comes the chance for thunderstorms - and it doesn't look like we'll have to wait long for some of those. We won't hold our breath because it's far out - but look at this map below for Sunday night:

You might not know what the map is showing, but it's called CAPE - or Convective Available Potential Energy. If you are still reading this after that - CAPE shows you the energy available for an updraft if surface air can start to accelerate upward. That is what you need to create the environment necessary for a thunderstorm. This is for Sunday night - so still many days away, but we'll be watching it closely!

Have a great night & enjoy the warmth tonight & tomorrow!

~KDLT Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer