CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY ACROSS NORTHEAST WYOMING AND WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. .Gusty south to southwest winds will develop tonight and continue through Wednesday, which will bring much warmer and drier air to the region. Winds will increase to 10 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph. Even stronger winds are possible across south central South Dakota, with gusts up to 55 mph. Temperatures Wednesday will be near record-breaking for this time of year. Highs will generally be in the mid 70s to mid 80s across lower elevations. Minimum relative humidity will drop as low as 10 to 20 percent. These conditions will result in critical fire weather conditions Wednesday afternoon across the region. Given poor overnight RH recovery Wednesday night and possible critical fire weather conditions once again Thursday, the red flag warning may be extended through Thursday across south central South Dakota. The National Weather Service in Rapid City has issued a Red Flag Warning for gusty winds and low relative humidity, which is in effect from noon MDT /1 PM CDT/ to 6 PM MDT /7 PM CDT/ Wednesday. The Fire Weather Watch is no longer in effect. * AFFECTED AREA. Fire Weather Zones 333 Bennett County Area, 334 Mellette and Todd Counties and 335 Tripp County. * WINDS. South 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 55 mph. * RELATIVE HUMIDITY. As low as 15 percent. * IMPACTS. The combination of gusty winds and low relative humidity would produce critical fire weather conditions.
