Weather Story

Red Flag Warning Through Friday

Winds Through Friday

Humidity Tonight and Friday

A Red Flag Warning remains in effect through Friday. Strong wind gusts turn westerly this afternoon, and will reach 35 to 45 miles per hour once again Friday afternoon. These winds will combine with afternoon humidity down below 25 percent during the afternoon, leading to critical fire weather conditions.

This afternoon, winds out of the south of 45 to 50 miles per hour have been observed. A front passing through today continues to shift wind direction to become westerly. After a brief lull overnight westerly winds will gust up to 30 to 45 miles per hour by Friday afternoon. The strongest gusts will be located over north central South Dakota and into the Sisseton Hills.

Poor humidity recovery is expected tonight, reaching only 45 to 60 percent at the maximum. Friday afternoon, humidity is expected to drop below 25 percent across the forecast area, with areas along and west of the James River Valley seeing humidity below 20 percent.