A strong cold front is dropping down from the northwest, bringing very strong NW winds and another round of arctic air. Impacts from this, and the light snow that accompanies it, will strengthen this evening and tonight.

Temperatures are falling with the arrival of the cold front.

2 pm

A Winter Weather Advisory is posted for under an inch of blowing snow in northern South Dakota. A Blizzard Warning is in effect for the NE corner of South Dakota, where snowfall will be a little heavier – an inch or two. But everyone will get the very strong NW wind that will blow the snowflakes around and diminish visibility, especially in open areas, which might experience ground blizzard conditions overnight. Sioux Falls and southern KELOLAND will only get a few tenths of an inch, tops.

In addition to blowing snow, dangerous wind chills will be created overnight into tomorrow morning.

Tonight’s air temperatures will drop a little below zero with those strong northwest winds.

Tomorrow will be partly cloudy and windy, especially the first half of the day before winds die down during the afternoon. Those northwest winds will prevent us from warming, so our highs will be about twenty degrees below normal, in the single digits.

Thursday will be partly cloudy and cold, probably the coldest day of the week. It will be well below zero in the morning, and only warm to the single digits. Aberdeen will probably remain below zero all day and all night.

Friday will be slightly warmer, in the teens East River. Western South Dakota will get the benefit of the incoming warm front, with Rapid City topping out around 40.

The weekend will be dry, and it will start warmer. Saturday will reach the upper 20s in the north to the upper 30s in the south (Rapid City in the low 40s). Sunday will be mostly sunny but cooler, in the teens in the north but only single digits in the north. Rapid City will remain much warmer, in the low 30s.

Next week looks mostly dry. It will be warmer through the middle of the week, but then cool back to normal for the weekend (January 15-16). Right now, there are hints that our next meaningful snow may also occur that weekend, as early as Friday.