It has been an active day of weather, with many locations reporting spotty but significant rainfall. One example is Carthage, in Miner County, where 6.5″ of rain fell. Sioux Center in NW Iowa reported a tornado 2.5 miles south of town, and then drenching rains that flooded streets. Much of NW Iowa was under flash flood warnings. There was a tornado warning posted near Parker during the afternoon, but no confirmed touchdown. All of the activity forced issuance of a Tornado Watch in SE KELOLAND until 10 pm.

It will be a wet night, with more showers and thunderstorms. Winds will pick up from west to east, with more showers and thunderstorms likely. Low temperatures will be in the low 60s.

Sunday will be dominated by the same weather system, that could again produce heavy rainfall – mainly during the first half of the day. With thick cloudy cover, brisk north winds will bring in cooler air. Highs will only reach the mid 70s to low 80s, below normal for the first full weekend of August.

We’ll come back to work on Monday much quieter, but cool. Skies will be partly cloudy, and we’ll top out in the upper 70s to low 80s. Rapid City and the Black Hills will be much cooler, in the low 70s, with a continuing chance of thunderstorms over the Sturgis rally.

The rest of the week will be cooler than normal, with highs in the upper 70s to low 80s, a few degrees cooler than normal. Last week’s heat and humidity are gone.