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Strong Storms and Heavy Rainfall Threats; Dangerous Heat for Southern Plains into the Southwest

Thunderstorms, some severe, will impact areas of the Plains into the Midwest today. Rainfall can be locally heavy as well from these storms with isolated instances of flash flooding. Monsoonal flow will enhance rainfall across the Four Corners into the central Rockies today. Meanwhile, summer heat continues for the southern Plains, Southwest into southern California. Read More >

Overview

A potent cold front swept through the region on the late afternoon and evening of Wednesday, January 13th, 2021. Behind the front, northwesterly winds became very strong. Wednesday night through Thursday night, winds across the area were sustained at 35 to 50 mph, with gusts of 60 to more than 80 mph. In Harding County, a gust of 93 mph was measured with the frontal passage! Winds finally diminished Friday morning. Numerous rollovers were reported during this long duration high wind event, especially along I-90 across western South Dakota. Many homes and businesses sustained property damage, and several wind driven grass fires produced additional damage.

The image to the right shows the wind observations at the NWS office near downtown Rapid City for the duration of the high wind event.
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NWS Rapid City Wind Observations
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