Minot, North Dakota 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

361
FXUS63 KBIS 050550
AFDBIS

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Bismarck ND
1250 AM CDT Sun Jul 5 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- There is a marginal risk (level 1 of 5) for severe weather
  late Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening. The main hazards
  are golf ball sized hail and 60 mph winds.

- Near daily chances for showers and thunderstorms continue next
  week.

- High temperatures in the upper 80s to mid 90s Sunday. A modest
  cooling trend then develops through mid-week.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 1250 AM CDT Sun Jul 5 2026

Clear skies and light winds continue to prevail across the area,
with the surface pressure gradient continuing to gradually turn
winds to the south-southeast in most areas, but with light
speeds. We will need to monitor for potential shallow fog
formation in parts of south central ND into the James River
Valley as temp-dewpoint spreads narrow overnight, but guidance
has little signal for its formation in ND at this time.

UPDATE
Issued at 949 PM CDT Sat Jul 4 2026

Skies have cleared across western and central North Dakota this
evening outside of a few high level cirrus. A tightening
pressure gradient over the far west is turning surface breezes
to the southeast, a trend that will continue overnight further
eastward. No changes to the near term required with this update.

UPDATE
Issued at 629 PM CDT Sat Jul 4 2026

Skies over much of western and central North Dakota features
gradually diminishing shallow cumulus, while isolated convective
activity continues from Devils Lake south towards the northern
James River Valley. This eastern activity should also diminish
or exit eastward through the early evening as both loss of
daytime heating and an eastward exiting impulse will reduce
thunderstorm chances in the James River Valley area. The 00Z BIS
sounding looks fairly capped and with the loss of a synoptic
trigger, the remainder of the night across the area will remain
quiet.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 113 PM CDT Sat Jul 4 2026

Latest satellite imagery shows Mostly sunny skies across western
and central ND early this Independence Day afternoon. There is
and area of agitated Cumulus development in southern Emmons
county, near the McIntosh county line. This is in an area of
very unstable air, with MLCAPE values 2000-2500 J/kg, as is much
of central ND along and east of the Highway 83 corridor and Cin
is minimal. Shear across the area is minimal, but effective
shear near the aforementioned Cu is around 20-25 knots. Hail
Cape over central ND is high enough (700-800 J/kg) that an
updraft that can sustain itself could produce some marginally
severe hail. Mid-level lapse rates are not great, but better in
the far south central than the rest of central ND. Lapse rate
are not really forecast to steepen much, if at all this
afternoon, but again, there may be a small window of opportunity
early to mid afternoon for a strong or marginally severe storm
in the far south central into the southern JRV. By this
evening, thing should quiet down, with little or no chances for
thunderstorms.

Sunday will bring our next chance for strong to severe storms as
an upper level shortwave trough tracking east through southern
Canada, skirts the area. Steepening lapse rates and marginal
moisture will produce an area of instability over eastern
Montana Sunday afternoon. Vertically veering wind profiles and
increasing shear will provide sufficient shear that
thunderstorms may become supercells with the potential for
large hail up to golf ball size and wind gusts to 60 mph. Shear
vectors are not ideal for supercell development but there`s
enough of a cross component to the surface trough that they
can`t be ruled out. SPC continues a marginal risk for severe
storms over a good portion of western and north central ND
Sunday. At this time it looks like it will be a late afternoon
into the evening timeframe. It will also be a hot day Sunday
with highs in the upper 80s to mid 90s. Current Apparent
temperatures remain in the mid 90s. Will monitor but no heat
related hazards are planned at this time.

We cool down and dry out on Monday with upper level ridging and
surface high pressure traversing the forecast area. A quasi-
zonal upper flow continue through much of the work week,
bringing near daily chances for showers and thunderstorms. After
the hot day tomorrow, we cool down into the 70s most areas by
Wednesday, then see a gradual warmup through the rest of the
work week.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/...
Issued at 1250 AM CDT Sun Jul 5 2026

VFR conditions are forecast to prevail through the 06z TAF
cycle. South-southeast winds will increase by Sunday afternoon
in southwest and central ND with gusts of 20-25 kt expected. A
front and related wind shift will move into northwestern ND by
mid to late afternoon, passing through KXWA around 21z. This
front may produce isolated to scattered thunderstorms along and
ahead of it in western and north central ND by late afternoon
and evening. However, confidence in the most-favored locations
for that development, and its overall coverage, still precluded
any mention of thunderstorms in the 06z TAFs.

&&

.BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$

UPDATE...CJS/Edwards
DISCUSSION...TWH
AVIATION...CJS