textproduct: Aberdeen

KEY MESSAGES

- Light snow over central SD this afternoon will expand across northeastern SD and west central MN by mid afternoon, and linger into tonight. Most areas will see little snow accumulation but a band along Hwy 14 and far northeast SD could see 1 to 3 inches, with 3 to 4 inches possible around the Prairie Coteau.

- Low pressure from the northwest will bring strong winds Thursday afternoon into the overnight hours, although confidence is low on specifics, gusts of 40 to potentially 55 mph. A High Wind Watch has been issued for central SD Thursday afternoon through the late evening hours.

- A wintry mix of rain or snow is possible near the ND/SD border Thursday morning becoming light rain during the afternoon into the evening.

- Another area of low pressure will bring a 50 to 70% chance of mainly snow this weekend. High and low temperatures Sunday into Monday will be about 15 to 20 degrees below normal.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 144 PM CDT Tue Mar 10 2026

As of 1 PM CDT, we have some light snow falling over central SD. This will move east and then southeast through the rest of the afternoon and into the overnight hours. Accumulations between 1 to 3 inches are expected. Current temperatures are in the 20s to around 30 with winds out of the north at 10 to 15 mph.

We're moving into a more active pattern this week with several chances for snow. The first will be tonight, as mentioned previously. A band of precipitation has already moved into north central SD and continues to spread east before moving southeast later this afternoon and evening. The heaviest band of precipitation is expected along and around Hwy 14 and over the Prairie Coteau of northeast SD. Snow chances have increased again, with an increase in QPF among high-res models. The chance for more than an inch of snow along this line is 50 to 60%, and the chance for more than 2 inches of snow in northeast SD is 40 to 60%. With the combination of steep lapse rates, frontogenesis and some instability over northeast SD, there is a chance for some amounts closer to 3 to 4 inches. The second chance for snow will be Thursday morning as another low moves across ND. Models differ on where this low will track, some are closer to the Canadian border, others are closer to the SD border. This will bring a chance of light snow to the northern portion of the CWA (generally north of Hwy 12). A southerly track will bring snow to a broader portion of the CWA and higher snow accumulations. Even with a southerly track accumulations look to be generally less than an inch. Precipitation looks to switch over to rain during the afternoon as we warm up. Moving on to our third chance of snow during the period, a low looks to track across NE/KS Saturday into Sunday. Confidence is still low on the track of the low. The EC ensemble shows the low the farthest north, mostly in central NE, and therefore has the most impact to our area. Its still too early to nail down snowfall amounts but this has the potential to drop quite a bit of snow, especially over far northeastern SD. Winds over the weekend have the potential to gust 30 to 35 mph, particularly over northeast SD. This combined with the falling snow, could result in issues with reduced visibilities due to blowing snow.

Temperatures through the rest of the work week will be relatively steady, with highs in the upper 30s to low 40s. Thursday, we get a shot of much warmer air (8-10 degrees warmer) which will push highs into the 50s to low 60s before we drop into the 20s and 30s for the weekend. Winds Thursday are still up in the air. Models are showing some much colder (and drier) air moving into the region during the later afternoon hours. This will support mixing, but just how far up is uncertain. Some model soundings are showing mixing up to at least 750mb and 60-65 kt winds. With the uncertainty in the location/track of the low, there is low confidence on just how much we will mix and timing of that incoming colder air so bumped up winds a little but if the trend continues, winds may need to be increased again. A High Wind Watch has been issued from Thursday afternoon into the late evening hours for central SD.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 1218 PM CDT Tue Mar 10 2026

Terminals KABR,KATY,KPIR,KMBG

Flurries and/or light snow is currently falling over portions of central SD. This threat for snow will spread eastward over northeastern SD through the afternoon with the band(s) of snow tracking southeast across the forecast area this evening and tonight. Cigs at KABR/KPIR/KMBG will bounce between VFR/MVFR through the afternoon (with a drop to IFR possible at KABR) between 23-02Z. KATY will continue in IFR through most of the afternoon through late tonight before improving after 08Z.

Winds will continue out of the northeast this afternoon to more west/northwest late tonight with gusts of 10-20kts.

ABR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

SD...High Wind Watch from Thursday afternoon through late Thursday night for SDZ003>005-009-010-015>017-033>037-045-048-051.

MN...None.