Rainfall locally from 150 to 200 percent of normal during August alleviated the areas of worst drought conditions.
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The episode as NWS FSD wrote it up.
Rainfall locally from 150 to 200 percent of normal during August alleviated the areas of worst drought conditions.
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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 9:44 PM CST, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 1044 PM CDT Thu Jul 31 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Surface smoke will continue to cause visibility reductions and health hazards to sensitive groups through Friday. - Lower confidence potential for isolated severe storms Saturday night into Sunday. - Another chance will come Tuesday night into Wednesday. A bit more shear and instability potential with this event so something to keep an eye on. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 354 PM CDT Thu Jul 31 2025 Skies are partly cloudy and smoky across the area on this mild Thursday afternoon. A surface high pressure system is sliding eastward through northern Minnesota, allowing for the return of light southeasterly winds locally. A field of cumulus clouds stretches from northwest Iowa to central South Dakota, and with soundings indicating some elevated instability, could see a few spits of drizzle west mainly west of I-29 this afternoon. Highs today are expected to be in the middle to upper 70s. Showers and isolated thundershowers have developed in western South Dakota this afternoon due to a weak shortwave drifting by. Some of this activity may try to creep into the eastern side of the Missouri, but with minimal instability (topping out around 300-400 J/kg), not much activity is expected locally. A stronger shortwave will move in from western Wyoming and fire off more storms over western South Dakota overnight. These storms will push east towards the Missouri River and weaken as instability wanes. As a result, some showers will be possible early Friday morning in the Chamberlain-area but likely won't amount to much. Lows tonight drop into the upper-50s to low- 60s, warmest west where there will be more cloud cover. The less cloud cover farther east combined with wet grounds will lead to the potential for patchy fog east of I-29, but major concerns are not expected. More surface smoke will be in place on Friday, reducing visibilities at times and could cause issues for those sensitive to smoke. Highs will be slightly cooler on Friday compared to today as there will be slightly more cloud cover overall, especially in the morning. Another wave will travel through the region on Friday, with perhaps some better coverage of showers and storms later Friday West River as the low-level jet kicks up to around 35-40 kts in west-central South Dakota. These storms will likely weaken as they cross the Missouri River as instability drops off sharply into our area overnight Friday into Saturday. Upper level troughiness slowly works from west to east across the area into Saturday. For the most part any instability Friday night into Saturday should mostly remain bottled up near and west of the James River. Fairly stable air to the east of this axis of instability in central SD will make it difficult for any storms to propagate eastward on Saturday. By Saturday night this upper level trough shifts east enough to allow some instability to spread into eastern SD which should increase the chances for showers and thunderstorms. While overall deeper layer shear is fairly weak, the lower level shear does indicate some turning with 20 to 30 knots in the lowest 3 or so km. This on top of the potential for 1500-2000 J/kg CAPE mainly west of I-29 may support some isolated severe storms and the potential for a southeast propagating MCS during the evening and overnight. Sunday continues this threat for showers and thunderstorms with a few severe storms possible. Still a lot of question marks as some morning activity could be in place which could alter expectations. Otherwise, Friday, Saturday and Sunday all look to have below normal temperatures with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s to lower 60s. Shower and thunderstorm potential continues Wednesday into Thursday as upper level high pressure builds over the Southern and Central Plains with southwest flow aloft across the Northern Plains and the potential for multiple smaller waves to ride through. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1044 PM CDT Thu Jul 31 2025 Latest observations continue to show some smoke across the area. Visibilities remain largely VFR with a few locations reporting visibilities down to MVFR. The smoke will persist through the night along with a light southeast wind. Locations along and east of I-29 may see winds go light. This could allow for the potential for fog to develop in this area though this potential remains low (<=20%). Light rain showers will develop across central and south central South Dakota tomorrow morning but look to remain east of KHON. Southeasterly winds will strengthen by the afternoon hours with gusts up to about 25 knots expected, strongest west of the James River. Smoke will persist across the area throughout the day but confidence is too low to include visibilities down to MVFR in a TAF. Showers and thunderstorms look to develop across northwest South Dakota during the afternoon hours and slowly track southeastwards. Think that these showers and storms will dissipate towards the end of the TAF period, before reaching KHON. Trends will be monitored. && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...None. MN...None. IA...None. NE...None. && DISCUSSION...Samet/08 AVIATION...Meyers
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD 714 PM CDT Thu Jul 31 2025 IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097- 098-NEZ013-014-SDZ038>040-050-052>071-020015- Lyon-Osceola-Dickinson-Sioux-O'Brien-Clay-Plymouth-Cherokee- Buena Vista-Woodbury-Ida-Lincoln-Murray-Cottonwood-Nobles-Jackson- Pipestone-Rock-Dixon-Dakota-Beadle-Kingsbury-Brookings-Gregory- Jerauld-Sanborn-Miner-Lake-Moody-Brule-Aurora-Davison-Hanson-McCook- Minnehaha-Charles Mix-Douglas-Hutchinson-Turner-Bon Homme-Yankton- Union- 714 PM CDT Thu Jul 31 2025 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northwest Iowa, west central Iowa, southwest Minnesota, northeast Nebraska, central South Dakota, east central South Dakota, south central South Dakota and southeast South Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight. A few scattered showers with an occasional rumble of thunder will be possible west of the James River Valley this evening. However, severe weather is not expected. Wildfire smoke will continue to filter through the area. While most of it will stay aloft, some limited surface impacts remain possible. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. Wildfire smoke will continue to filter through the area into the weekend. While most of it will stay aloft, some limited surface impacts remain possible. Additional chances for showers and thunderstorms will occur over the weekend. However, uncertainty remains in severity and coverage. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not expected at this time.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe (D2) drought conditions improved to moderate (D1) mid month.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Dakota in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in South Dakota, August 2025
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: 1290340.