A massive arctic front cutting across the state this week is likely to bring high winds and wintry temperatures. Experts say the western and central prairie could be hit the hardest.
Gusts at or above highway speeds are expected for the center of the state, though the wind will continue to howl in the Black Hills as well.
Aaron Dye is a meteorologist at the Rapid City National Weather Service office.
“As this low moves through now, behind the front, we’re going to see some better mixing and we’re just going to have some pretty strong winds," Dye said. "It’s a pretty typical setup that we see oftentimes in the winter here. Not a whole lot of moisture for us. Most of the moisture is going to stay up north up by North Dakota and eastern Montana where they’ve got a little more snow in the forecast. We’ll see some snow in the Hills likely.
Dye said trash cans in residential areas in Rapid City could be at risk with this wind. Out in the countryside though, he said just about anything left outside could go missing.
“The foothills are probably not going to be as bad, but probably expect some 45-55 mile per hour wind (gusts) even around here," Dye said. "I don’t see some widespread damage, however once you get into the plains of eastern Meade County, eastern Pennington County, even upwards toward Buffalo, you’re going to see some 55-65 mile per hour winds in the open plains there.”
Overall, Dye said it looks like the autumnal weather in the Hills is starting to come to an end.
“More of a wind and obviously a big temperature change as it shifts to a more early-winter feel with highs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday being more in the mid-30s here and lows in will be more in the teens," Dye said. "By Saturday, we might see some single digits around here – maybe even some below zero for the higher elevations of the Black Hills.”
Dye adds this kind of wind, while powerful and early in the season, is not atypical for South Dakota.
