So I've decided to try something new with the blog. During times of severe weather I'll put some updates on here so you'll have new ways to get information. Give me some comments in the comments section!
2:15AM CDT: The warning is still going for the next 15 minutes, but it looks like the bulk of the heavy stuff has started to move south of the warning area. There's still lots of lightning with this cell, but to me things may be looking a little better.
Discussion from the Storm Prediction Center suggest that we still have a threat of severe weather in the form of gusty winds. Anything that does develop should be very short lived.
As I type they have just canceled the severe thunderstorm warning for Beadle and Kingsbury counties. So that's it, no more warnings or watches for the time being. I'm going to turn it over to Patrick and let him take it from here. We may be doing this tomorrow.
2:00AM CDT: The watch has been canceled. The warning is still in place for another 30 minutes. Interesting thing is that the Storm Prediction Center is now watching the southeast part of the viewing area for gusty winds through 4 am. They're not anticipating a watch, but still watching the area, just in case.
1:30AM CDT: WOW. I spoke too soon. A new warning has been issued for Beadle and Kingsbury counties until 2:30 am CDT. This is for the wind potential with these storms, which could be in excess of 60 mph.
1:25AM CDT: Both the tops of the storms in Tripp and Beadle counties are starting to get shorter. I think the last warning was because I finally took the microphone off (late night sarcasm). I still think that there's a chance of heavy rains in Huron, but would doubt a warning will be issued.
1:20AM CDT: They just continued the warning for Tripp county. It seem like this county along with Mellette and Todd have been getting a lot of hail recently. Pesky storms have actually been around western South Dakota quite a bit the last few weeks. The cell near Huron still looks fairly impressive. Actually the top of the cloud may be higher than the one in Tripp county. In the next 30 minutes or so, expect heavy rain and at least some small hail in Huron.
1:10AM CDT: A new warning has been issued for Tripp county until 1:30 am CDT. So only a few minutes on this on. It is a severe thunderstorm warning for hail and is only for the extreme northwestern part of the county. The report says that it could produce ping pong ball size hail, but I'm struggling to see it. We'll see if we get any reports.
1:05AM CDT: We're in our last hour of the watch and the only storm now catching my eye is the one in Beadle county. Overall it looks like a heavy rain maker and not much more. Speaking of rain, Aberdeen only added 0.2 inches to their last hour, so the storm total was only 0.23 inches and that's not too bad. Temperatures are in the middle 60s in Mobridge, Aberdeen and Sisseton and in the lower 70s nearly everywhere else. Not a huge swing in temperatures, but a slight one.
12:55AM CDT: The cell to the north or Huron does appear to be getting stronger. The western edge appears to be the strongest, but is sticking below severe limits for now.
12:45AM CDT: Three more counties have been dropped from the watch area; Brown, Faulk, Sully. We're down to Buffalo, Hand, Hughes, Hyde, Spink still until 2am. We are watching storms moving through those areas, but to me it appears that the vertical extent is staying below the severe limits.
12:30AM CDT: We've just got an update from the storm prediction center for the outlook for today. A big chunk of the viewing area is again in a slight risk for today (Wednesday). It looks like the best chance of severe storms may be across northwest Iowa. Hail once again looks to be the largest threat. Tornadic activity looks to be at a minimum. We might be doing another one of these severe weather blogs on Wednesday.
12:25AM CDT: Warnings in western South Dakota have been canceled early and as of now the entire state is warning free. I'm still keeping an eye on the vertical development on Titan Live Doppler. it looks to me that the lightning isn't as intense and the cells aren't as tall.
12:10AM CDT: Looking at the observations from the top of the hour a few things stick out. Everyone is in the 70s, except for Mobridge, which is at 64, considerably cooler. Aberdeen is reporting a thunderstorm and they've had 0.21 inches of rain in the last hour. Seeing heavy rain may end up being a bad thing for Wednesday and Thursday when we're expecting heavy rains in some areas with severe storms.
11:55PM CDT: Something my attention has turned to is the area to our west. Theres some severe storms in Bennett, Jackson, and Shannon counties in South Dakota. This could be heading toward Mellette and Todd counties. I'm going to start analyzing this area along with the rest to see if there is a possibility of more development.
11:45PM CDT: Well without even asking, I found out what they were thinking. They just canceled the watch for the following counties: Dewey, Edmunds, McPherson, Potter, and Walworth. As of now the watch will continue until 2am for Brown, Faulk, and Spink . There were also some counties added and they are Buffalo, Hand, Hughes, Hyde, and Sully. So they're watching that southwestern flank. We're going to stick around until these are all gone or when Patrick comes in.
11:35PM CDT: Our last warning was just canceled. That's some good news. I've got Titan Live Doppler set up so that I can see the tops of the storms. It looks to me that the updrafts are quickly weakening. There is still plenty of instability to the southeast of the current storms. However it looks like there some inhibition that could hold these storms back for the rest of the night. We're also moving out of the high shear environment which will help lessen the tornado threat.
We've still got the watch until 2am for a big part of the northern viewing area. I'm going to talk to the Aberdeen NWS shortly and see what they're thinking, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it canceled ahead of 2am.
11:15PM CDT: Still no reports for a while. We're down to the one warning I mentioned in the previous post. Still about 30 minutes on that one. It looks like things are calming down. Let's hope so!
11:00PM CDT: The show is over and we just got another warning. Not a surprising one though. It's a severe thunderstorm warning for Dewey, Potter, and Sully counties until 11:45PM CDT. Looks to be packing some large hail.
10:35PM CDT: No reports for a while, which surprises me since we're in more populated areas. They just continued the severe thunderstorm watch for Brown, Dewey, Edmunds, Faulk, McPherson, Potter, Spink, and Walworth counties until 2am CDT. Dewey, Potter, and Sully counties are under a severe thunderstorm warning until 11:00PM CDT. The cell we have our eye on is causing a severe thunderstorm warning for Edmunds, Faulk, Potter, and Walworth counties until 11:15PM CDT. This cell seems to be producing heavy winds along with the hail.
10:25PM CDT: I had to cut in for the Tornado Warning, sorry the updates were nearly an hour apart. Here's what I know of now. A law enforcement officer reported a tornado southeast of Selby. We'll let you know if we get a National Weather Service confirmation or anymore information.
9:35PM CDT: A new warning for an area that fill the gap between the two warnings already in effect. Most of this is for Walworth County, but extreme northern Potter county, extreme NE Dewey county, and west central Edmunds county are in the warning. Once again for hail producing storms.
9:30PM CDT: The cell that is creating the warnings in Dewey county continues to move to the southeast. It is also developing to the southwest. This could create problems for SE Dewey, Sully, Stanley, and Hughes counties.
9:25PM CDT: More wind reports. Mobridge has a gust of 61 mph. Also we've got a report of nickel size hail from Glenham in Campbell county. This shows me that these storms may still be strengthening.
9:20PM CDT: A new report. Now we're getting the gusts along with the hail. The Mobridge observation station recorded a gust at 52 knots or 59.8 mph. That is enough to do damage to weak structures.
9:05PM CDT: Another warning. This one is for Dewey and Walworth counties, once again for hail, and once again until 10PM CDT or 9PM MDT.
9:00PM CDT: A new warning. This one is for East Central Corson County, NW Edmunds County, SW McPherson County, and NE Walworth. This is for the large hail we've already seen. This will also go until 10PM CDT.
8:45 PM CDT: Got another report from Mcintosh in Corson county for hail. Now its up to quarter size (1 inch in diameter). The area in the center part of the county seems to be strengthening and dropping to the south and east towards Dewey county.
8:40 PM CDT: Seems to be a low in warnings, however, there is some building to the southwest side of the cell moving through Corson county, so we're not close to being out of the woods just yet.
8:30 PM CDT: Hail does seem to be the primary threat at this point. We did just get a report from Mcintosh, SD in Corson county of nickel size hail (0.88 inches in diameter). If the biggest tornado threat seems to be right along the Missouri River. However, with no development in these areas as of now, that threat is quickly diminishing!
8:25 PM CDT: Just took a look at the severe outlook from the storm prediction center for tonight. They've extended the slight risk outlook to the south and east to include nearly the entire viewing area with the exception of Sioux Falls, Southwest Minnesota, and Northwest Iowa. We won't get another update from the storm prediction center until 1 am, which is technically the first update for tomorrow.
8:15 PM CDT: Our first warning. Severe Thunderstorm warning until 8:00PM MDT for Walworth county. Mobridge is on the edge of this warning, but a new warning will likely be issued shortly for the city itself.
8:10 PM CDT: We now have two watches, the newest one includes Brown, Dewey, Edmunds, Faulk, Hand, Hyde, McPherson, Potter, Spink, and Walworth counties until 2 am CDT.
It looks to be a long night for us. A huge cell is moving out of North Dakota into these areas. From what I've heard the biggest hail to this point is golf ball size or 1.75 inches in diameter. The town of Mobridge seems to be in the path.
