As families try to beat record heat, here’s how long it could last

It doesn’t take a seasoned meteorologist to tell that it is unseasonably hot in Sioux Falls. But, as local residents desperately search for ways to beat the heat, a seasoned weather expert can provide some context into just how unusual this is for a still-early summer.

Mike Gillispie, service hydrologist at the Sioux Falls National Weather Service, said this recent heat wave has set records for the area.

For June 1-7, the Sioux Falls area has seen a record average high temperature of 92.9 degrees, according to Gillispie. The previous record for the first week of June was 91.1 degrees, set in 1933.

“That’s a pretty long-term record — you’re looking back at the Dust Bowl era (as) the closest that the first week of June has been to being this hot,” he said.

The average temperature for the entire day for that time period is third highest all-time in Sioux Falls at 77.1 degrees, according to Gillipsie. 1993 and 2020 are tied for the highest with 77.4 degrees. So even though the highest temperatures are setting records, the low temperatures at night have been a little cooler than the hottest of past years because of dry air being more likely to cool off at night.

Gillispie said the extreme heat is being caused by a large, upper-level, high-pressure system sitting on top of the area and keeping all the heat and dryness trapped here.

“That’s a pretty normal thing that happens throughout the summer,” Gillispie said. “The reason we’ve been a bit more extreme this year, particularly starting out in June, a lot of that deals more on the hydrological end of things where we’ve been so dry recently, the lack of rain, and dry soils and grasses … a lot of little things like that have come into play at the same time.”

He also said the lack of crop cover has contributed to the heat, as the heat is reflecting off of the dry, brown soil and going into the air instead of being absorbed by the green crops.

Creatively keeping cool

With the start of June being unseasonably warm, Sioux Falls families have had to find ways to enjoy the beginning of summer without wilting in the heat. One local mom has been entertaining her kids with “pretend car washes” — supplying her 4-year-old son with a bucket of water and soap and having him “clean” his tricycle.

“This was kind of a product of COVID last year,” said Sara Whitley, a stay-at-home mother of three. “My youngest was still a newborn then, and I needed a way to engage my then-3-year-old. So I had him pretend it was a car wash, and he loved it. He asks to do this all the time now.”

Other regular summer activities she prepares for her kids are putting a sprinkler under their trampoline and creating homemade “water bombs.” Their normal pool at Kuehn has yet to open for the summer, so the Whitleys have been keeping cool at home and planning for a post-pandemic rest of the summer.

“My husband and I were talking about our summer bucket list,” she said. “There’s such a treasure trove of activities in Sioux Falls. COVID taught us that we don’t have to drive or fly far to have fun. We’re looking forward to getting back out there and taking the time to enjoy what’s here.”

Like the Whitleys, Heather Faini has had to come up with an alternative water-based activity for her 4-year-old daughter because of closed public pools. She took her daughter to the Pioneer Spray Park in northeast Sioux Falls on Wednesday because of the closure at the Terrace Park pool, their regular summer spot.

Faini said her family enjoys riding bikes, but the recent heat wave has made that uncomfortable to do so.

“It’s been good to be able to take her here, even if it’s just a quick trip,” Faini said.

What’s to come?

For residents looking for a reprieve from the heat, there isn’t much of an end in sight. Even though Gillispie said it should be slightly cooler over the next two weeks, it remains highly probable that temperatures will remain above normal.

“Hopefully, it’s not going to be quite as bad, but there’s really no big cooldown in sight,” he said.

While it seems like the next few weeks will remain scorching, he’s not yet ready to predict how warm the rest of the summer will be.

“It’s really tough to tell,” he said. “Right now, there are a couple indicators this will continue. A lot of it will depend on if we get rain, get those soils moistened back up. When we have the crops and moist soil, the air gets cooler, so if we can get some rain and get crops going then I think July and August will be more toward normal.”