3-13-18 Northern Plains: Details on fog risks the next few days and a stronger late week system. B.

Video (7:00):

Good Tuesday morning! We have dense fog advisories in effect until the mid-morning hours. Dense freezing fog and slick spots are possible across the area this morning especially in low-lying areas with snow cover. 

A boundary through Southern South Dakota will keep that area warm, while the rest of the Northern Plains remains in a colder air mass and temperatures remain below freezing. Overall, with high pressure in the area, fairly light winds will dominate, however, wouldn’t rule out some gusty winds up to 25 MPH out of the NW in SE Minnesota where a stronger low level jet is present.

Most areas will clear out today with just a few high clouds in portions of the Eastern Dakotas and Minnesota. However, we note some additional freezing fog risks developing tomorrow morning especially in valley regions of the Western Dakotas. 

As we head into Wednesday afternoon, areas of freezing drizzle/mist could develop for areas within the blue circle and fog will develop along the frontal boundary for areas in the pink circle. These chances will continue and sag slightly south throughout Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. 

The big story this week will be a strong storm system that begins to develop on Thursday. Scattered showers and a light mix will develop for the Western Dakotas late Thursday and widespread precipitation will develop with heavy snow possible for Southwest South Dakota by Friday morning. Snow could continue overnight Friday before all precipitation should exit by Saturday morning.

This will be a strong storm system with enough dynamic cooling to allow for the potential of heavy snow accumulations especially in Southern South Dakota. Models are in fairly good agreement that the heaviest snow will be focused in southwest and southern South Dakota. We’ll watch and fine tune this potential over the next few days.

Here’s a look our latest week’s 1/2 temperature and precipitation outlooks: 

If you have any questions do not hesitate to reach out! Have a great day!