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Storm Surge Flooding Continues in the Outer Banks; Dangerous Heat in the West

Storm surge flooding will continue through tonight in the Outer Banks in North Carolina as Hurricane Erin continues to move away from the U.S. Wind gusts up to tropical storm force are possible along the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts through Friday. A dangerous, record heat wave will continue across the Desert Southwest and the Central Valley of California through Saturday. 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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