Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches for enhanced wildfire danger have been issued by the National Weather Service for areas in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, and Florida.
For South Dakota, the NWS in their 3:03 a.m. MT forecast today, described the conditions in their usual “screaming”, all-caps style. (I retain the hope that the NWS will one day outgrow the use of all-caps, which I think must be left over from the use of teletype machines, which were first patented in 1846.)
AFFECTED AREA…IN SOUTH DAKOTA…FIRE WEATHER ZONE 273. WINDS…SOUTH WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE DAY. FOR TUESDAY…WEST 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.
…RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONE 273…
…FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONE 273.
And for Tuesday:
A POTENT COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE REGION TUESDAY MORNING…BRINGING GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS TO THE PLAINS OF NORTHWESTERN AND WEST CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA. THE STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ACROSS FAR NORTHWESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA WHERE SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH ARE EXPECTED…WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 60 MPH POSSIBLE.
THE GRASSLAND FIRE DANGER INDEX IS EXPECTED TO BE IN THE EXTREME CATEGORY ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN AND SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA ON TUESDAY.
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The Red Flag Warning map above was current as of 8:40 a.m. MT on Monday. Red Flag Warnings can change throughout the day as the National Weather Service offices around the country update and revise their forecasts. For the most current data, visit this NWS site.
