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Heat the Southwest; Fire Weather in the Central U.S.; Kona Low Impacting Hawaii

A rare March heat wave is ongoing with much above-normal temperatures over the Southwest U.S. through this weekend. Periods of critical fire weather will persist from the central Rockies to the central and southern Plains through the weekend as gusty winds and low relative humidity continue. A Kona low will continue to bring several rounds of moderate to heavy rainfall to Hawaii through Sunday. Read More >

Overview

Around 1:00 PM CDT, emergency management reported a brief landspout tornado near Mission, SD. This landspout caused damage to one residence, located just west of Mission, SD. Damage to the residence included shingles missing from the roof, branches and small trees damaged, a swing set and carport tossed around, and a trampoline being lifted into some trees.

Landspout tornadoes are typically weak and short-lived, posing a relatively minor threat of property damage. Landspouts can form with developing thunderstorms before rain, hail, and even thunder is observed. Landspout tornadoes are not usually associated with a wall cloud and are often difficult to detect with weather radar.

For more information on landspouts and the differences between "typical" tornadoes (those formed from supercells), see National Severe Storms Laboratory's page.

Landspout image
Photo from Robert Oliver
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