Dakota Storm Center: Thursday's Weather Blog

9:00pm

Overview
There is a low pressure system over the Great Lakes region with a cold front stretched South, through the Mississippi River valley and into the Southern Plains. Along this front there is another low developing over the Ohio River valley. A ridge of high pressure is over most of the plains while the eastern half of the nation is seeing higher chances for rain & thunderstorms.

Discussion
Across the area today, we saw plenty of sunshine with a few clouds and no rain across the state. It felt pleasant (under sunshine) as temperatures climbed through the 50s and to near 60. The warm area on the map was over the western border of North Dakota as temperatures climbed into the upper 60s and to 70 for Sidney.

Bismarck/Mandan, there was a high of 58 and a low of 39. The high temperature was close to average for this time of the year and 13 degrees cooler than yesterday. In Dickinson there was a high of 59 and low of 35. Temps were also right on target for this time of the year.
Across the Northern Plains, there is a ridge of high pressure that will continue to build through the day tomorrow and into Saturday. Closer to home we are seeing mostly clear skies with a few hit & miss clouds over the eastern side of the state. No rain is showing up on radar.
Through the rest of the work week and into Saturday, a ridge of high pressure will continue to build over our area. This means that tomorrow we will see plenty of sunshine with a few clouds and SE winds becoming breezy.
Saturday afternoon, we will start to see increasing clouds, followed by rising rain chances as our next system moves into the Dakotas. This low pressure system will bring cooler temps and rain will transition to mix & snow for parts of our area. Widespread rain & snow will be our weather headline as we wrap up the weekend. Most of the state will see showers & thunderstorms and some of us will see more than 1" of new rain.

Headlines this evening, include a ridge of high pressure that is anchored over the Dakotas.
We will see very little cloud cover tonight through Saturday morning, resulting in plenty of sunshine. Warmer air, and more sun will lead to warming temps. Our next chance for rain will start up, Saturday night.

Through the rest of tonight & Friday
Expect mostly clear skies with a light to moderate wind that will continue to swing around to the Southeast. Temperatures will fall back into the 30s with a cool feel and we are not expecting too many changes during the next 24 hours. Tomorrow will start off with a few clouds and a cool feel. Through the day we will see another round of sunshine and a few light clouds. Temperatures will be a little warmer and climb to either side of 70 with winds becoming breezy and out of the Southeast. Friday will be very pleasant and winds will be a little gusty at times.

7day planner
Plenty of sunshine will continue through the Friday and into Saturday. Temperatures will warm through the 60s and into the 70s as we go into the weekend. Parts of our area will even reach up to 80. Our next chance for rain will begin Saturday night and go through the beginning of the work week as a system moves across the Northern Plains (Sunday & Monday). A second chance for precip is at the end of the 7day planner (Tuesday & Wednesday).

Tonight, expect fair to partly cloudy skies and a cool feel. Lows in the 30s with a North/SE wind 2-12mph.

Friday, pleasant temperatures will be the theme with plenty of sunshine and a few clouds. Highs will be slightly warmer and on either side of 70 with a SE wind 10-20mph & gusty at times.

Friday night, fair to partly cloudy skies and mild. Lows 39-47 with a SE/East wind 5-15mph.

Saturday, expect another round of sunshine followed by increasing clouds. It will feel very nice as temps climb above the seasonable norm. Highs in the 70s. E/NE wind 10-20mph.

Saturday night, we will see continued increasing clouds with rising rain chances. There will be a good chance for scattered showers and a few thunderstorms. Lows in the 40s with a moderate to strong wind out of the East & NE 10-20mph G30.