South Dakota's earliest tornado as fake spring flexes its muscles

Is it spring or is it winter? This is a question we’ll probably ask several times in the weeks ahead. For now, most spots in the contiguous United States are dealing with springlike conditions as meteorological winter comes to an end Friday.

Weather Watch

Out of place tornado. The earliest tornado observed in the year on record for South Dakota struck on Monday. It was a landspout tornado, which typically has different origins than a powerhouse supercell (rotating, single-updraft thunderstorm) tornado, although there are notable hybrid cases. It beats the previous earliest tornado of the season in the state by several weeks — one that hit March 23 in 2009.

Swingin’ temps. Around this time a week ago it was as frigid as it gets in the back half of February across the central United States. Since then, some spots have seen temperature rises of right around 100 degrees. A zone from Montana through the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas has witnessed 80-to-100-degree temperature change as springlike conditions surge north. This includes Broken Bow, Neb., with a 99-degree swing from minus-32 last Thursday to 67 on Monday.

Lightning links

See how much daylight we’ll gain in March across the Lower 48.

Out-of-this-world ice ridges on Lake Erie.

Space Force reveals image snapped by top secret space plane for first time.

Take a look Tuesday

WARNING: You may find it difficult to leave the website highlighted below once you enter.

Brandon Skalniak, soon-to-be graduate of Millersville University, announced completion of the Radar Museum this week.

“Featuring over 5000 entries from 1992 to the present day (tornadoes, TCs, and more), this collection is likely the largest NEXRAD-era event radar database on the web,” he posted to Bluesky.

And it will keep growing.

Having followed Brandon over the years, I can attest to his skill in analyzing radar during sketchy weather situations. A favorite page of mine as a tornado weirdo is the couplet list, as it gets right to the key points for the big dogs.

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster that connects weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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