textproduct: Aberdeen

KEY MESSAGES

- Warm, dry, and windy into the early evening with record/near record highs and critical fire weather conditions for portions of central/south central SD. Critical/near critical fire weather conditions again across south central SD on Monday.

- Strong storms possible Monday afternoon. Slight Risk (level 2 of 5) for severe weather along and east of the Interstate 29 corridor. Large hail up to 1 or 2 inches in diameter is the main threat.

- Strong cold front will bring colder temperatures back to the region Friday into the upcoming weekend, with highs back to below normal values.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 236 PM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

Much of the area seeing 30-35 mph wind gusts this afternoon, with a few areas even closer to 40 mph. RH values not quite as low as expected across the southwest CWA, but they are dropping through the mid/upper 20s percent with several more hours of heating/drying to go, so still some time for values to get down to around 20 percent in regards to verifying the Red Flag Warning in place. No changes to the headline for today, but did add another warning for the far southwest counties tomorrow as wind/RH look to meet or be very close to criteria once again.

For tonight, a cold front drops south through northern SD and switches winds to a northeast direction. Models also indicating more stratus clouds developing over northern SD within the cooler and more moist atmosphere post-frontal. Also, there are hints of fog over northern areas, more so in the Coteau region where upslope winds may aid in formation.

On Monday, the frontal boundary will become stationary across southern SD. A wave of low pressure moves along the front, while shortwave energy approaches the Northern Plains by late afternoon. Models still indicating thunderstorm activity as far west as the far eastern CWA, but with more areal coverage across MN. This shows up nicely in HREF Paintball output, giving low confidence in overall areal coverage and thunderstorm threat for the far east. By late afternoon, surface boundary looks to be set from from near KHON to KBKX, with ML CAPE values generally around 1000-1200 J/KG over the southeast CWA. Better dewpoints closer to 60 degrees set up further east into MN, but over the southeast CWA they should be able to reach the low/mid 50s. If any storms were to get going just north of the boundary over the far eastern/southeast CWA, it appears there is potential for them to become severe, with large hail up to 1-2" in diameter. The big question is overall areal coverage and whether or not the threat actually shifts east into MN after 00Z.

Strong cold front still on track to move through the region towards the end of the week, likely Thursday/Thursday night. After highs in the 70s to near 80 on Thursday, still anticipating highs on Friday to drop back down considerably, most likely in the 40s to low 50s. With that change in air masses comes a chance for rain/snow, although QPF looks rather limited as Grand Ensemble probs for greater than 0.25in is around 10 percent or less across the CWA. X

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z MONDAY/

Issued at 1229 PM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

Terminals KABR,KATY,KPIR,KMBG

VFR conditions will prevail into the evening hours today, with gusty westerly surface winds approaching 30 knots. Late tonight into early Monday morning, MVFR/IFR CIGs are forecast to move back into northern SD, affecting KABR/KMBG and perhaps KATY. Surface winds will also begin to switch to the northeast/east by the end of the TAF period.

ABR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

SD...Red Flag Warning until 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ this evening for SDZ033-035-045-048-051. Red Flag Warning from 1 PM CDT /noon MDT/ to 8 PM CDT /7 PM MDT/ Monday for SDZ033-045-048. MN...None.