It’s a chilly start to the week across KELOLAND, but a pretty sky at Lake Madison. We expect north winds to increase once again, but not as strong as yesterday.

All the wind can be traced to that big area of low pressure to our east. It’s a slow-mover, so expect more wind today in our eastern counties.

Speaking of wind, here are some of the peak wind gusts the past 24 hours. Spencer, IA clocked the highest gust close to 60mph.

Highs have remained below normal for this time of the year with the north wind.

That’s also putting pressure on soil temperatures, which remain below normal for this time of year. We are hoping for improvement on these numbers in the coming days. Numbers above 50 degrees at the 4″ soil depth will be more favorable for seed germination as we kick off the growing season.

Futurecast shows hourly temperatures today mainly in the 50s this afternoon. The wind speeds will be 20-35 in both Sioux Falls and Aberdeen, making it feel cooler. We anticipate more 30s tonight, but highs will increase a few degrees tomorrow with lighter winds and dry skies for now.

The pattern by mid week should warm into the 70s, with a few 80s not out of the question. We also see a better chance of rain by Friday into the weekend as a larger low pressure system pulls into the Rockies and the Gulf of Mexico begins to open up some moisture back into KELOLAND. May is a critical month for timely rain, so we’ll watch those developments this week.

The 10 day rainfall forecast is looking wetter too across much of the plains.

Here are the details of the forecast.