National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heavy Rain From the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic; Heat Wave Begins This Weekend

Strong to severe thunderstorms and heavy rain will impact portions of the central Plains into the Upper Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic through the weekend. A stretch of unusually hot and humid weather is expected across portions of the central U.S. and the Southeast beginning this weekend and continuing through next week. The heat may reach dangerous levels, particularly mid to late next week. Read More >

Overview

A broad area of rapidly moving showers and thunderstorms impacted central and northeastern South Dakota and west central Minnesota on the afternoon of Sunday, May 28th. Due to a favorable environment involving dry air near the surface and strong winds aloft, these storms were able to translate strong to severe winds to the surface. Due to a very dry May, in which moderate drought conditions developed across much of north central South Dakota, these winds kicked up large amounts of dust. These dust storms were fairly common and widely reported, drastically reducing visibility for minutes on end. While quite ominous looking, these storms did not have the potential to produce tornadoes. Sometimes dust can become lofted to heights that are normally associated with tornadoes. However, unless a rotating funnel cloud extends downward from the clouds above an area of rotating dust, the phenomenon is non-tornadic (not to say these storms weren't dangerous - there were reports of damage). Unfortunately, not much precipitation fell with this activity as the storms were fast moving and some rainfall evaporated before reaching the ground.

 

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Dust Storm Near Craven Corner

Photo courtesy of Jes Hart

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