SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The summer rain trends are once again headed downhill as the heat cranks up across KELOLAND next week.

We are facing a dry seven-day forecast for much of the drought areas of KELOLAND. That fact combined with some of the worst heat of the summer will bring even more attention to problems we’ve faced most of the summer.

The need for rain is still obvious in the latest Drought Monitor update. The Sioux Falls area remains under severe drought, a dry pattern that has focused more attention right along the Big Sioux River Valley.

In spite of a few nice rains the past two weeks, the Big Sioux River has resumed it’s lower flow level, although not as bad as late July.

Rain will be very hard to find as long as this high pressure center is nearby. Think of the high pressure center as the heat core. It suppresses clouds and rain, and it steers any moisture belts around the rim of the heat. Notice the position and intensity of the heat ridge pattern begins to change late next week.

As that happens, some tropical moisture should enter parts of the plains, but the exact track and timing details are still lacking.

It is worth noting that chances of rain and cooler temperatures usually go hand and hand in summer forecasts, which will hopefully be less than a week away.