Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Rapid City, SD
Issued by NWS Rapid City, SD
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397 FXUS63 KUNR 302028 AFDUNR Area Forecast Discussion For Western SD and Northeastern WY National Weather Service Rapid City SD 128 PM MST Sun Nov 30 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Minor chances for light snow this evening/overnight along Neb border - Potential upslope snow event northern Black Hills Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon - Northwest flow will keep temps below seasonal norms through the week && .DISCUSSION...(This Evening Through Sunday) Issued at 125 PM MST Sun Nov 30 2025 Latest analysis shows upper level split flow regime across much of the CONUS, with weak shortwave ridging taking place in the northern stream across southern Sask/Manitoba dropping into ND, with a 500hpa shortwave trof/impulse in the southern stream dropping into western WY with expansive cloud shield across eastern WY into southwest SD. At the surface, the arctic high pressure responsible for the chilly/record setting cold of this morning was located across central SD. Low pressure was located in northern UT with a surface trough nosing to the northeast into south central WY. Weak radar returns are showing up across far southwest SD, but scanning local webcams doesnt show much, so if anything is reaching the ground, its flurries at best. As the southern stream 500hpa wave conts to drop south through the next 24 hours, weak 700hpa theta-e forcing remains along the SD/NE border through 12z Monday. Moisture still remains pretty meager with this system, but anticipating that the air will be cold enough to wring anything out with minor forcing and ascent due to wave passing to the south. With returns already being seen on radar, will continue to minor pops along the border with little in the way of accums/QPF. Monday should be a quiet day with warmer...albeit still below normal...temps. Tuesday is where the next forecast challenge lies. Models are trending a bit cooler than previous runs, and next upper trough drops through the region. LREF mean 2 meter temps on Tuesday are now around a category cooler than current forecast has going. Deterministic 850hpa temps are also a bit cooler than when compared to 24 hours ago. Additionally, surface cold front comes through a bit stronger and earlier than previously thought, lending itself to a potential upslope snow event for the northern Black Hills. LREF is showing total snow accums probabilities of > 2 through 00z Thursday from 30-50% for parts of the northern Black Hills. Minor accums are possible on the plains...as probabilities of > 0.5 snow on the plains vary from 20-30%. It will also become breezy/windy on backside of cold front Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday with temps again dropping on Wednesday. Temperatures try to rebound a bit for Thursday and Friday, but will fall again for the weekend as another impulse slides south dragging a cold front with it. This will bring another shot of light snow, especially to the northern Black Hills. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS Through 18Z Monday) Issued At 1004 AM MST Sun Nov 30 2025 Local MVFR/IFR conditions due to patchy stratus and fog over the South Dakota plains will improve by 20Z. Patchy light snow may occur near the SD/NE border after 30/21z, but mainly VFR conditions are expected. && .UNR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...None. WY...None. && $$ DISCUSSION/KEY MESSAGES...Hintz AVIATION...Smith