274  
FNUS73 KUNR 051530  
FWSUNR  
 
SPOT FORECAST FOR NEEDLES-EVENT FIRE...USWFS  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD  
930 AM MDT SAT SEP 5 2026  
 
FORECAST IS BASED ON FORECAST START TIME OF 0900 MDT ON SEPTEMBER 05.  
IF CONDITIONS BECOME UNREPRESENTATIVE, CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER  
SERVICE.  
   
DISCUSSION  
GENERALLY SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH  
THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS WITH GUSTS UP TO 15 TO 25  
MPH POSSIBLE. RELATIVE HUMIDITY WILL DROP AS LOW AS 18 PERCENT BY  
MID-AFTERNOON, WHILE TEMPERATURES WILL TOP OUT AROUND 98 DEGREES.  
SMOKE DISPERSAL WILL BE VERY GOOD DURING THE DAY BEFORE BECOMING  
POOR OVERNIGHT. RELATIVE HUMIDITY RECOVERY WILL BE GOOD (~70 TO 85  
PERCENT) OVERNIGHT INTO THE MORNING.  
 
THERE IS A CHANCE (~25 TO 35 PERCENT) OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS  
AFTERNOON AND EVENING, STARTING AROUND 20Z FOR THE FIRE AREA.  
SHOULD STORMS FORM, GUSTY, ERRATIC WINDS, LIGHTNING, AND  
POTENTIALLY HAIL WILL BE THE MAIN THREATS. WE WILL CONTINUE TO  
MONITOR AND WILL REACH OUT SHOULD ANYTHING THREATEN THE FIRE AREA.  
 
NEAR-CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS EXPECTED SUNDAY - VERY HOT  
(95F), BUT LESS DRY. RELATIVE HUMIDITY WILL FALL TO AS LOW AS 28  
PERCENT BY PEAK HEATING WITH BREEZY SOUTHERLY (SUSTAINED) WINDS 8  
TO 12 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 21 MPH.  
   
REST OF TODAY  
 
SKY/WEATHER.........MOSTLY SUNNY (20-30 PERCENT) THEN BECOMING  
PARTLY CLOUDY (35-45 PERCENT). CHANCE OF  
THUNDERSTORMS STARTING AROUND 20Z AND  
LASTING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS.  
MAX TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 98.  
MIN HUMIDITY........18 PERCENT.  
WIND (20 FT)........SOUTHWEST WINDS AROUND 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE  
SOUTHEAST LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. GUSTS UP TO 21  
MPH.  
CWR.................0 PERCENT.  
MIXING HEIGHT.......10100 TO 10600 FT AGL.  
TRANSPORT WINDS.....SOUTH AROUND 15 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTHEAST  
AROUND 25 MPH.  
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....VERY GOOD.  
 
TIME (MDT) 9AM 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM  
SKY (%).........5 6 11 33 33 33 33 44 46  
WEATHER COV.....  
WEATHER TYPE....  
TSTM COV........  
CWR.............0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
TEMP............78 83 88 94 97 98 98 98 96  
RH..............53 45 37 30 25 21 18 18 20  
20 FT WIND DIR..S SW SW SW S S SE SE SE  
20 FT WIND SPD..7 7 7 7 7 8 9 10 10  
20 FT WIND GUST.16 16 16 15 15 16 18 20 21  
MIX HGT (KFT)...0.9 1.4 2.3 4.8 8.8 9.1 11 7.2 5.1  
TRANSP WIND DIR.SW S S SE SE SE S SE SE  
TRANSP WIND SPD.14 13 12 12 13 14 16 20 22  
   
TONIGHT  
 
SKY/WEATHER.........MOSTLY CLOUDY (50-60 PERCENT) THEN BECOMING  
PARTLY CLOUDY (35-45 PERCENT).  
MIN TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 65.  
MAX HUMIDITY........84 PERCENT.  
WIND (20 FT)........SOUTHEAST WINDS AROUND 15 MPH SHIFTING TO THE  
SOUTH OVERNIGHT. GUSTS UP TO 22 MPH.  
CWR.................0 PERCENT.  
MIXING HEIGHT.......500 TO 1000 FT AGL.  
TRANSPORT WINDS.....SOUTH AROUND 25 MPH.  
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....POOR.  
 
TIME (MDT) 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10P 11P MID 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM  
SKY (%).........53 54 53 56 54 47 42 28 28 28 28 30  
WEATHER COV.....  
WEATHER TYPE....  
TSTM COV........  
CWR.............0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
TEMP............90 86 81 79 77 75 73 72 71 69 66 65  
RH..............28 34 42 47 52 58 64 64 66 73 81 84  
20 FT WIND DIR..SE SE SE SE S S S S S S S S  
20 FT WIND SPD..12 12 13 13 12 12 12 12 12 12 10 10  
20 FT WIND GUST.20 18 21 22 21 21 20 18 18 18 17 16  
MIX HGT (KFT)...3.2 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5  
TRANSP WIND DIR.SE SE SE SE S S S S S S S S  
TRANSP WIND SPD.23 23 22 21 21 21 21 22 22 21 21 21  
   
SUNDAY  
 
SKY/WEATHER.........MOSTLY SUNNY (25-35 PERCENT).  
MAX TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 95.  
MIN HUMIDITY........28 PERCENT.  
WIND (20 FT)........SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND  
21 MPH.  
CWR.................0 PERCENT.  
MIXING HEIGHT.......8400 TO 8900 FT AGL.  
TRANSPORT WINDS.....SOUTH 20 TO 25 MPH.  
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....VERY GOOD.  
 
TIME (MDT) 6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM  
SKY (%).........27 30 34 32 26 27 28 28 28 28 31 35  
WEATHER COV.....  
WEATHER TYPE....  
TSTM COV........  
CWR.............0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  
TEMP............66 69 73 77 82 86 89 92 94 94 94 92  
RH..............81 73 66 58 49 42 35 31 28 28 28 31  
20 FT WIND DIR..S S S S S S S S S S S S  
20 FT WIND SPD..9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 10 12 13  
20 FT WIND GUST.15 15 15 17 16 15 15 15 17 18 20 21  
MIX HGT (KFT)...0.5 0.9 1.2 1.6 2.5 3.3 4.2 5.8 7.3 8.9 7.3 5.8  
TRANSP WIND DIR.S S S S S S S S S SE SE S  
TRANSP WIND SPD.21 21 21 21 18 17 16 16 16 17 18 21  
 
 
FORECASTER...CS  
REQUESTED BY...JADE DRAUSE  
TYPE OF REQUEST...WILDFIRE  
.TAG 2621264.0/UNR  
.DELDT 09/05/26  
.FORMATTERVERSION 2.0.0  
.EMAIL JADE_DRAUSE@FWS.GOV  
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.
The Nexlab SD Page
The Nexlab WY Page
Main Text Page