National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heavy Rainfall and Flooding Threats in the Midwest and Ohio Valley; Heat Continues in the Plains and Southeast

An active pattern will continue to bring heavy to excessive rainfall and flash flooding threats to the Midwest and Ohio Valley over the next couple of days. Dangerous heat continues across the central/southern Plains and Southeast U.S. into next week. There is potential for record-tying/breaking temperatures with many areas forecast to see their hottest temperatures so far this year. Read More >

Overview

A potent cold front swept through the region on the late afternoon and evening of Wednesday, January 13th, 2021. Behind the front, northwesterly winds became very strong. Wednesday night through Thursday night, winds across the area were sustained at 35 to 50 mph, with gusts of 60 to more than 80 mph. In Harding County, a gust of 93 mph was measured with the frontal passage! Winds finally diminished Friday morning. Numerous rollovers were reported during this long duration high wind event, especially along I-90 across western South Dakota. Many homes and businesses sustained property damage, and several wind driven grass fires produced additional damage.

The image to the right shows the wind observations at the NWS office near downtown Rapid City for the duration of the high wind event.
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NWS Rapid City Wind Observations
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