A major early spring storm is striking KELOLAND this morning with bands of heavy snow and developing wind. Miller is included in the blizzard warning headline today as we watch the snow increasing in intensity.

On radar, snow continues to expand through much of western, central, and northeastern SD.

The headlines for blizzard conditions are included on the map below in white. Winter weather advisories for mixed precipitation and blowing snow the next 24 to 36 hours are also included in blue.

Here’s a closer look at Futurecast below. The snow will stay heaviest to the north and west over the next 24 hours. A very periods of freezing drizzle and freezing rain will also accompany this storm system from Chamberlain to Watertown. While heavy icing is not a major threat, even a tenth to two tenths on an inch of ice could create some problems. A couple of rumbles of thunder can’t be ruled out in southeastern KELOLAND tonight too, but the colder air will take over through the night and into tomorrow. Temperatures will be stuck in the 20s and 30s tomorrow with very gusty winds.

Our snow forecast remains heaviest in western, central, and northeast SD.

There will once again be a major severe weather outbreak to our southeast later today, including tornadoes.

Strong winds are a big part of this weather story the next 24 to 48 hours. The worst of the wind will arrive tomorrow on the backside of the storm. Gusts over 50mph are likely in northeastern KELOLAND where blowing and drifting snow will be a big problem.

Ready for some good news? We anticipate much warmer weather moving into the region starting this weekend and lasting much of next week. It will feel like spring, but there will be rapid melting of snow across much of the area, so some areas will be prone to flooding. We’ll continue to monitor that story in the coming days.

Here are some high temperature maps for Easter Weekend.

Here are the details of the forecast.