Saturday's Storm Chase "Lite"

After the tornado warnings and the big storms crept closer and closer to Minnehaha County, I hopped into my car and took off with a camera.

Here is some of what I saw:



That was video of the scud clouds and shelf cloud from the departing supercell thunderstorm. As you can see, I wasn't the only one there... you can see a firetruck and a few other people watching the storm.

A little bit later we made it out to Hartford. Still trailing the storm too much to be right there should a tornado drop - but close enough for some good video of the shelf cloud from the storm behind the water tower.



As you can see... pretty impressive storms out there. Luckily no tornadoes and definitely no tornadoes impacting anybody. That's what I and most/all storm chasers hope for, and it's nice when it happens.

Have a great night - you can find one more clip on our KDLT Weather Facebook Page - just click on the link on the right-hand side of this page to get there!

~KDLT Chief Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

A Busy Saturday

Storms fired up pretty early today as there were many severe thunderstorm warnings across south central South Dakota by 11 am and then tornado warnings were issued at about noon and continued right through 4pm. The good news is that there were no reports of tornadoes although there were several funnels spotted. However, lots of hail fell in many spots across nearly a dozen South Dakota counties. Some of our viewers sent in some pictures of not only the storms but of some of the remnants.

Here is a couple shots of the storm that made its way just north of Sioux Falls. These were taken in northern Minnehaha county. Notice the lowering of the clouds on the first picture called a shelf cloud. And the bee hive like structure on the second picture which is very typical of a supercell thunderstorm.

This hail fell in Aurora Center and shattered several windows in this house and destroyed a vehicle in the driveway.We are expecting more storms on Sunday afternoon and evening but the good news is that severe weather should be very minimal.

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Massive & Dangerous Hailstorm In Sturgis Tonight

We're hearing reports of large storms hitting western South Dakota. We'll have more on our 10pm newscast, but here is what we have so far...

You can see and hear how intense this particular hailstorm was. If you search on YouTube you can already find other video clips - some showing an almost winter-like scene with so much hail lying on the ground.

So it's pretty bad storm-wise in western South Dakota. We heard reports from a KDLT employee who is visiting the Sturgis-area that there are many people hurt from the storms, and windshields broken. Structures are damaged, ambulances were called to the scene due to the severity of some of the injuries, and cars and motorcycles were damaged and dented. We'll try to add a few more pictures of the damage as we get them.

~KDLT Chief Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Bring on the Heat!!!

Tomorrow could be one of the warmest so far this year if everything goes to plan. The storm system responsible for the rainfall we have seen this morning will also be the cause of our extremely warm day tomorrow. A warm front will be progressing northward tomorrow across areas of the east. Behind (south) of that front temperatures will likely be well into the 90's and could even approach 100 degrees. In combination with very high humidity tomorrow, heat indices (what it feels like) could get up to 105 degrees. But the question remains, just how far north will the warm front get? Well, here is one of our models that might have the answer to that very question

The line on the picture indicates where the warm front is located. Notice that by 1pm, areas south of that front are already in the low to mid 90's.

As the front continues to push northeastward, some pooling of warm air occurs and temperatures (at least in this model) top 100 in a few spots. But also take note that areas outside of the warm sector have temperatures some 15-25 degrees cooler, making your Saturday afternoon a little more bearable.So try to stay cool on your Saturday cause it's shaping up to be a sultry day.

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Severe Weather For Friday... And Radar From Tonight

We're continuing to watch storms around the area tonight... it's possible some of those will turn severe - especially out west. Here's what we're seeing right now (6:22pm):

You can see some showers popping up toward the north and west of the Pierre area - along with lingering lighter showers toward the East. We are seeing some possibly turning strong to severe toward the West tonight, so keep that in mind if you're reading this post from that region.

Tomorrow? Here's what we're seeing for severe weather chances for your Friday to Friday night:

That's what we're seeing - but don't be surprised if that red-shaded area shifts slightly toward the East over the next 12 hours or so.

Have a great night!

~KDLT Chief Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

A Humid Time Ahead

With the cooler temperatures that we have experienced so far this summer, the humidity levels have been very bearable. Well, that looks like its about to change, at least temporarily. A strong south wind will start today and will go right through the weekend which will bring heat and moisture from the south which we have rarely experienced this year. Models are suggesting that dew points will get back into the low 70's which is oppressively humid. Here are the forecasted dew points for the next 72 hours on 12 hour increments starting at 7am this morning.

So it looks like dew points will get back into the 60's today and then increase into the 70's tomorrow and Saturday which will make it feel extremely uncomfortable. The good news is that by Sunday night and Monday drier air will move in which will make it feel a lot nicer.

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz

Severe Weather Thursday? Plus... Muggy Air Coming

We've talked about it for a couple of days... and now we are seeing some storms on the way for Thursday as we see our next storm system rolling through. Along with the storms we'll be looking for an increase in the humidity levels, as we've talked about over the past couple of days both on-air and on our KDLT Weather Blog.

Here's the highest risk areas for severe weather that we've highlighted for your Thursday:

Most of the warnings you'll see Thursday will come out toward the West - with some of those storms gradually building toward the East. Even if we don't see severe weather toward the East we should definitely see some thunderstorms at the very least.

As for the humidity - when you mix in the rain from these storms we're forecasting and some warmer air coming in for Friday - we'll be seeing some muggy conditions. Hopefully your air conditioning is working!

Have a good night!

~KDLT Chief Meteorologist Aaron Shaffer

Severe Weather is Back

Looks like we will be returning to more of a summer like pattern as warmer more humid air begins to make its way in along with the possibility of severe storms. Here is the severe weather outlook for the next three days across the country. Notice that at least some portion of South Dakota is inside the slight risk all three days.

Then once the severe weather vacates our area, we might bring on the heat for a couple of days and see the warmest weekend of the year statewide. Here is what a couple different forecasting models are saying for high temperatures Saturday afternoon.As for right now, Saturday does look like it will be the warmest day we have seen in a while. But the question is, just how warm will it get? There are still several components that are up in the air at the moment as these very same models are not consistent from one day to the next. So, we will have to keep an eye on it and hopefully we will be able to pin down the level of warmth expected sometime soon.

~KDLT Meteorologist Cody Matz