A Warm Start to Veterans Day Weekend
by Angela Schilling, Meteorologist
November 11, 2011 10:50 PM
As a warm front lifted eastbound early Friday morning we were left with a much warmer air mass, plenty of sunshine, and somewhat breezy conditions. On average, highs should be in the mid to upper 40’s by the second week of November. This year’s Veterans Day proved to be one of a kind with highs in the upper 50’s to the mid 60’s…not enough to break any records though. In 2005 Sioux Falls hit 70 degrees, breaking the old record set for November 11th. Fall and early winter can bring a roller coaster ride of temperatures to the Northern Plains, the image to your left shows high temperatures in Sioux Falls over the past 5 years. The last time we hit 60 degrees in Sioux Falls was on November 1st, 2011. Friday’s highs were a good 15 to 20 degrees above average, and Saturday looks to be even warmer, especially if we continue to see the sun.
At this point in time cloud clover looks to be the limiting factor. Notice the image below and how the clouds are West River, and if we were to loop the image the clouds would be moving in an easterly fashion...luckily though they’re pretty thin in nature.
It’s possible we could see a few mid and high level clouds on Saturday, and if we do, temperatures will have a hard time getting above 60 degrees, regardless though highs will be several degrees above average…thanks to a southerly wind. The image below shows surface temperatures forecast for Saturday afternoon. Notice the low just west of Pierre as well as the warm air out ahead of it. Behind the front cooler air will filter into the region…but we don't have to worry about that until Sunday.
Out ahead of the front our winds will be breezy at times, at around 15 to 25 miles per hour. As the front moves through we could see a few light rain showers or flurries. However, with so much dry air in place at the lower levels, precipitation chances remain low overall. The image below shows dew point temperatures forecast for Saturday afternoon, notice how pretty much the entire region is shaded in either black or forest green…which according to the key below is very dry. Since we have a little bit more moisture in the upper levels of the atmosphere a few high level or cirrus clouds are possible.
A ridge of high pressure will be over the Northern Plains on Saturday, but notice on the image below the dip in pressure just to our west in Montana. This time around we have the dynamics to get air to rise but not enough moisture to get a ton precipitation to fall. The following image shows 300mb or the jet stream…set for Sunday morning. Also notice how the area of low pressure is now over the I-29 corridor, with zonal or (west to east) flow following suit. Which means we’ll see some afternoon clearing after a somewhat cloudy start. Behind the front cooler air will filter into the region…with an even bigger cool down expected next week…make sure to stay tuned to KDLT and KDLT.com for the very latest.
