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Heat Builds in the West; Extremely Critical Fire Weather in the Northwest

A heat wave over the Southwest will intensify this week, peaking and expanding into the Intermountain West and northern High Plains this weekend. Critical to extremely critical fire weather conditions are forecast from the Northwest and the northern Great Basin this weekend. Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warnings have been issued. Read More >

Overview

In the afternoon of August 8th, 2020, thunderstorms developed across eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota. These brought large hail and damaging winds to the area through the evening. One storm that developed over the Black Hills produced grapefruit-sized (4.5 inch) hail! As the storms shifted eastward, they formed a line, developing into a mesoscale convective system as more storms converged together. The main threat changed from hail to strong winds, with nearly 80 mph gusts reported across south central South Dakota. As the storms passed, magnificent mammatus was seen by many.  Image
Pactola (R. Strom)
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