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Flash Flooding Likely into Tonight for Portions of Kansas and Missouri; Heat Wave Expands to the East Coast; Tropical Storm Krosa Forms Near the Marianas.

Flash flooding likely in northeast Kansas & Missouri into tonight. Widespread extreme heat will develop and persist across much of the Southeast this weekend & next week. Tropical Storm Krosa has formed and will continue to cause heavy rain across Guam & the CNMI through Saturday. Severe storms with flooding rains expected into tonight for portions of the Midwest. Read More >

Overview

Unusual February thunderstorms developed along a front on Monday the 24th. Conditions came together just enough to form weak, low-topped supercells. While the environment wasn't suitable for strong thunderstorms, there was just enough low-level rotation that was tilted and stretched to form a brief, weak tornado near the borders of Codington, Hamlin, and Deuel counties. Tornado touched down around 4:11pm CST and lasted around a minute in an open field. No damage was observed, and without damage, the tornado will be documented as an Enhanced Fujita Scale Unknown or EF-U.  Some storms also produced pea sized hail.

 

This event was unique because it was the first February tornado to be documented in South Dakota history! The only remaining months with no tornadoes documented in South Dakota are November, December, and January. 

 

There was a stark difference between temperatures the previous week (in the -20s to -30s) and this week's temperatures (highs in the 50s). 

Image
Tornado captured by Alex Resel.
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