Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Albert City, IA

UPDATE
Issued at 329 AM CDT Tue Apr 14 2026

Fog and very low stratus continue to develop early this morning. So far, most visibility has remained above 2 miles outside the Chamberlain area (where visibility at the time of the discussion is down to around 1/4 SM). Model probabilities do show moderate (30- 60%) chances areas along the Buffalo Ridge and across northwestern IA to fall below 1 mile through this morning so will continue to monitor for potential headlines. Fog should mix out through the morning hours. Also seeing some returns on radar out across central SD, but have not seen any precipitation reports, likely due to the stout dry layer between the mid clouds and the surface/stratus.

Forecast remains on track for the rest of today and into Wednesday.
SPC has expanded the Marginal (level 1 of 5) risk back toward IA/MN State Hwy 60 for both today and Wednesday. Some uncertainty in development and timing, as guidance still mostly keeps the better forcing off to the southeast. However, recent runs of larger scale deterministic models are shifting the surface and low level fronts further north today, shifting that instability axis with it.
Additionally, storms will need to overcome the cap once again.
Storms late today may move out of eastern NE into our forecast area, and would be capable of large hail to 1.5 inches (ping-pong ball sized) and wind gusts to 65 mph. If there is a low level or surface boundary in play, a tornado is possible. Can't rule out a stronger storm into Tuesday night. For Wednesday, will have to wait and see how today plays out with convection with the better instability again off to our south and east.

DISCUSSION
Issued at 238 PM CDT Mon Apr 13 2026

Scattered thunderstorms are set to develop over the next few hours, bringing the potential for a few severe storms with large hail, damaging winds, and perhaps a tornado or two. As of 2 pm, a surface low is located over northern Nebraska with a warm front extending northeast of it across far southeastern South Dakota into northwest Iowa. Dew points in the 60s have been gradually spreading northward, and these higher dew points are expected to reach the I-90 corridor over the next couple of hours. This boundary will be the focus of initial storm development, with these storms having access to 35-50 kts of effective bulk shear and 1500-2000 J/kg of MLCAPE. There are questions though on how much some high clouds have limited the area from reaching full heating potential, but if a storm can get going then steep mid level lapse rates of 7.5-8.5 degrees C/km and mostly straight, elongated hodographs will favor large hail to around 2 inches in diameter or larger. The secondary threat will be damaging wind gusts up to 70 mph. If a storm can get rooted to the aforementioned surface warm front, then a tornado or two will also be possible. Can't rule out a strong tornado either, primarily over southwest Minnesota. As the low pressure system drift across the area, a few additional showers and storms look to develop farther south across northwest Iowa (down to about IA Highway-3, or just north of US Highway-20)
within the warm sector around sunset. These storms could also be on the strong to severe side, with an isolated instance of quarter sized hail and 60 mph as the threats.

Showers and storms will exit off to our east by the mid evening hours, leaving mostly quiet conditions in its wake. A few showers may develop in central South Dakota prior to daybreak Tuesday, but dry air should win out and prevent most if not all of this from reaching the ground. Patchy fog will also be possible by early Tuesday morning across portions of northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota as winds turn light and variable overnight and ample moisture remains in place. Temperatures tonight drop mainly in the 40s, though some 50s are possible in our easternmost areas. Low chances for showers continue into the day on Tuesday, but activity is expected to remain spotty at best as rain continues to battle a dry sub cloud layer. Highs will range from the 60s northwest to 70s southeast. Rain chances look to increase Tuesday night into Wednesday as two shortwave troughs impact our area. The best chances of rain and storms look to be over northwest Iowa and adjacent areas of Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota. At this time, severe weather looks unlikely with this system as the better instability looks to be off to our south and east.

Rain and storms exit off to our east by Wednesday night, leading to a dry Thursday. Winds look to increase on Thursday especially west of I-29 closer to a deepening surface low, and winds may take on a southwesterly component especially in south central South Dakota.
This could lead to another day with higher fire danger as temperatures will be warm and relative humidity values drop to 25% or below mainly along and west of the James River. Still some uncertainty into how breezy the winds will be, so keep up to date with the latest forecast. Not too much time to look into the extended forecast given the near term severe weather threat, but guidance is in fairly good agreement that the western trough will begin to move into our area by the end of the work week/early weekend. This could bring more rain and storms to our area on Friday and then colder weather into Saturday as guidance indicates a stronger push of cold air advection behind this system.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/
Issued at 1218 PM CDT Tue Apr 14 2026

VFR conditions expected this afternoon into this evening with northerly winds turning light and variable into tonight. A few thunderstorms will move towards the Highway 20 corridor in northwest Iowa by daybreak into Wednesday morning, though uncertainty remains on just how far north these storms will make it. Enough confidence to at least include a PROB30 group at KSUX for -TSRA, but trends will be monitored. Winds will remain mostly light and variable into the day on Wednesday.

FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
SD...None.
MN...None.
IA...None.
NE...None.