Drought in South Dakota, August 14 to 31, 2018

Name: Drought in South Dakota, August 14 to 31, 2018
Start: 2018-08-14T07:00
End: 2018-08-31T23:59
Location: South Dakota

August 14 to 31, 2018 · NWS ABR · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS ABR wrote it up.

After some improvement in the drought conditions in early July in the James Valley, much below normal rainfall in early August resulted in severe drought conditions redeveloping by mid August. By mid August, Aberdeen had only received six hundredths of an inch of rainfall for the month. The severe drought affected crops trying to recover from the earlier summer severe drought. The severe drought conditions continued into September.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Aberdeen, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 14, 5:21 AM CST, 1 hour 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 14, 5:21 AM CST, 1 hour 39 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Aberdeen SD
621 AM CDT Tue Aug 14 2018

.SHORT TERM...(Today and Tonight)
Issued at 347 AM CDT Tue Aug 14 2018

Cold front continues to move southward across the area and has
recently cleared Pierre. It stretches northeast overhead Watertown
and off into west central MN. Breezy northerly winds, cooler air,
and lower dewpoints are working in behind this front. Any shower and
thunderstorm activity thus far has been across southern ND. CAM
solutions still suggest some development across the eastern CWA
later this morning, so will see if this materializes. There is some
mid-level energy set to move across the area over the next few
hours, so the potential is there. Besides the potential for a few
showers and storms this morning, the other story will be the cooler
air in place today. After several days of 90s and 100s, temps will
be much cooler today and only top out in the upper 70s to low 80s,
with less humid conditions as well.

For tonight, winds will become light as surface high pressure
glances the area. Dropped lows a few degrees - more so across the
northeastern CWA where there should be less influence of cloud cover
with the approach of the next piece of shortwave energy. Speaking of
this system, it does appear showers and thunderstorms are possible
over the western and southern CWA late tonight as this system
approaches.

.LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Monday)
Issued at 347 AM CDT Tue Aug 14 2018

A couple of systems look to affect the region through the long term.
The first system drops southeast out of the northern Rockies, and
moves across mostly western and southern South Dakota on Wednesday
and Wednesday night. Most of the models indicated that an MCS will
develop across SW/SC South Dakota and northern Nebraska by late
afternoon, and then move east/southeast overnight. Severe weather
looks possible along and south of the I90 corridor where deep layer
shear is pretty healthy. MLCAPES are also pushing 1k j/kg during max
heating. However, the best overlay of favorable severe indices
should be over Nebraska where SPC has issued a slight risk. Short
wave ridging then builds into the region for Friday through
Saturday, with mainly dry conditions expected.  Another mid level
trof moves into and across the region for Sunday and Sunday night.
The models are hinting that this feature could provide for a larger
area of measurable rain during that timeframe as it sinks slowly
southeast over the Northern and Central Plains. At this time the
severe threat looks minimal given predicted lack of instability and
shear.  Temperatures should favor near to above normal through the
first part of the weekend, but then should drop to near or below
normal early next week.

&&

.AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Wednesday Morning)
Issued at 619 AM CDT Tue Aug 14 2018

Patchy IFR/MVFR cigs around KATY should gradually lift this
morning. The rest of the day should feature VFR skies/vsbys across
the region. Morning showers and storms are possible at KABR.

&&

.ABR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SD...None.
MN...None.
&&

SHORT TERM...TMT
LONG TERM...TDK
AVIATION...TDK

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 14, 3:56 AM CST, 3 hours 4 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Aberdeen SD
456 AM CDT Tue Aug 14 2018

MNZ039-046-SDZ003>011-015>023-033>037-045-048-051-151000-
Traverse-Big Stone-Corson-Campbell-McPherson-Brown-Marshall-Roberts-
Walworth-Edmunds-Day-Dewey-Potter-Faulk-Spink-Clark-Codington-Grant-
Hamlin-Deuel-Stanley-Sully-Hughes-Hyde-Hand-Jones-Lyman-Buffalo-
456 AM CDT Tue Aug 14 2018 /356 AM MDT Tue Aug 14 2018/

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for west central Minnesota,
central South Dakota, north central South Dakota and northeast
South Dakota.

.DAY ONE...Today and tonight.

A few showers and thunderstorms are possible this morning across
northeast South Dakota and west central Minnesota. Severe storms are
not expected at this time.

Showers and thunderstorms are once again possible late tonight, but
this time across western and southern South Dakota. The threat for
severe storms is low.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday.

Thunderstorms are possible across south central South Dakota
Wednesday afternoon and evening. A few storms could be on the strong
side with hail and gusty winds.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

TMT

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Edmunds

When: August 14, 7:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Edmunds forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 45.419, -99.215 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Faulk

When: August 14, 7:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Faulk forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 45.071, -99.145 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Brown

When: August 14, 7:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Brown forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 45.590, -98.352 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Spink

When: August 14, 7:00 AM CST to August 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Spink forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 44.938, -98.346 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in South Dakota in 2018 Every state in 2018 This day in weather history Warnings in South Dakota, August 2018

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 781608, 781609, 781610, 781611.