National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Scattered Severe Thunderstorms Across the Northern Plains; Fire Weather Concerns in the Western U.S.

Scattered severe thunderstorms are forecast across central and eastern North Dakota, as well as far northwest Minnesota Saturday (Slight Risk level 2 of 5). Damaging wind gusts are the primary threat. Elevated to critical fire weather conditions will persist through the weekend across the Western U.S. Isolated dry thunderstorms could lead to new fire starts over portions of the northern Rockies. Read More >

Automatically generated image showing areas of convective available potential energy.

 

Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of convective available potential energy. Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of convective available potential energy. Thumbnail of an automatically generated image showing areas of convective available potential energy.
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4 Panel Display | Animated Loop

CAPE 

This is a surface based Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) measurement only.  In the cool season, elevated instability may be much higher than surface based cape.

On average, CAPE of 1000 J/Kg is usually sufficient for strong to severe storms. CAPE of 3,000 to 4,000 J/Kg or higher is usually a signal of a very volatile atmosphere that could produce severe storms if other environmental parameters are in place.

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