It was an extremely cold morning, with extremely low wind chills – dipping into the minus-30s in NE South Dakota. Aberdeen got down to a morning low of 20 below. Sioux Falls wasn’t as cold, with an overnight low of 1 above zero.

Temperatures have been trying to recover today, hindered by cloud cover and an easterly breeze. Aberdeen might not make it above zero today, though single digit highs will be common across eastern South Dakota.

2 PM

Skies will be partly to mostly cloudy, and we may squeeze out a few flurries in northeast South Dakota. Tonight won’t be as cold as last night, but we’ll still get below zero in Aberdeen and NE South Dakota. Whatever breezes we have should be relatively light.

Tomorrow will be partly to mostly sunny, as we enjoy a one-day warmup. Sioux Falls and SE KELOLAND may even get above-normal, to around 30 degrees. We’ll have another single digit day in NE South Dakota, while 20s will dominate western South Dakota.

Cold air returns on Friday, New Year’s Eve. Clouds will company the cold air, and we may have moisture starved flurries or snow showers. Sioux Falls will have a brisk north wind that will cause temperatures to fall through the teens during the afternoon. Highs will be near- or below-zero in NE South Dakota, and the low teens in the west.

New Year’s Eve night will be especially cold, with temperatures dipping below zero and brisk wind creating significant wind chills. Keep this in mind of you’ll be outdoors to ring in the new year.

Flurries may continue in Sioux Falls and SE KELOLAND for Saturday morning, New Year’s Day. It will also be very cold, with highs only in the single digits above-zero in eastern and central South Dakota. Aberdeen and the northeast will again struggle to get above zero during the heat of the day.

Clouds should break up on Sunday, though it will still be colder than normal as strong warming begins, with highs in the 20s East River to the 30s West River.

Monday and Tuesday look warmer, with partly cloudy skies getting us briefly back to the 20s to mid 30s.

But another front with very cold air comes in Wednesday through the rest of the week. We’re carrying some snowfall chances with breezy conditions near the front on Wednesday. It will be cold again for the following weekend, Thursday-Sunday, January 6th to 9th.