606
FNUS73 KUNR 131615
FWSUNR
SPOT FORECAST FOR QURY...USFS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RAPID CITY SD
1015 AM MDT FRI MAR 13 2026
FORECAST IS BASED ON FORECAST START TIME OF 1000 MDT ON MARCH 13.
IF CONDITIONS BECOME UNREPRESENTATIVE, CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE.
DISCUSSION
CURRENTLY, TEMPERATURES ARE AROUND 30-31F WITH
RELATIVE HUMIDITY ~70% AND OVERCAST CONDITIONS. TEMPERATURES
WILL SLOWLY WARM INTO THE LOW TO MID 40S TODAY WITH A MIX OF CLOUDS
AND SUN. HUMIDITY WILL FALL TO AROUND 45 PERCENT BY PEAK HEATING
WITH GENERALLY SOUTH-SOUTHWEST WINDS. EXPECT CONSIDERABLE TERRAIN
VARIABILITY WITH BEST CHANCE FOR GUSTS IN EXPOSED/OPEN AREAS AND
SOUTHERN SLOPES. LIGHT RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS POSSIBLE THROUGH THE DAY,
HOWEVER LITTLE TO NO PRECIPITATION ACCUMULATION EXPECTED (LIQUID
PRECIP LESS THAN 0.02").
EXCELLENT HUMIDITY RECOVERY TONIGHT (~90%) PEAKING AROUND 0200-0300.
TEMPERATURES WILL FALL BELOW FREEZING AFTER 1900 HOURS THIS EVENING
WITH LOWS IN THE 20S TONIGHT. WINDS WILL BE DIURNALLY DRIVEN, WITH
DOWNSLOPE/DOWNVALLEY FLOWS DOMINATING AFTER 1800-1900.
WARMER SATURDAY (~51F) WITH HUMIDITY FALLING TO AROUND 35% BY 1400.
WINDS WILL BEGIN LIGHT AND VARIABLE BEFORE BECOMING SOUTH-SOUTHWEST
AFTER 0800-0900. CLOUDS WILL INCREASE THROUGH THE DAY WITH RAIN/SNOW
CHANCES INCREASING AFTER 1600-1700 SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO SUNDAY.
TOTAL PRECIPITATION THROUGH SUNDAY ~0.1-0.2" WITH 1-2" OF SNOW
ACCUMULATION.
ELEVATED TO NEAR-CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS RETURN BY WEDNESDAY
WITH VERY WARM TEMPERATURES FOR THE LATTER HALF OF NEXT WEEK - HIGHS
IN 70S WED-FRI WITH SOME POTENTIAL OF 80F.
REST OF TODAY
SKY/WEATHER.........PARTLY SUNNY (55-65 PERCENT). SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SNOW LATE IN THE MORNING, THEN CHANCE OF SNOW AND
RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON.
MAX TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 44.
MIN HUMIDITY........45-50 PERCENT.
WIND (20 FT)........SOUTHWEST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH WITH GUSTS TO
AROUND 10 MPH INCREASING TO 5 TO 10 MPH WITH
GUSTS TO AROUND 20 MPH.TERRAIN VARIABLE WINDS
ON NORTH FACING SLOPES AND IN SHELTERED LOCATIONS.
CWR.................25 PERCENT.
MIXING HEIGHT.......2800 TO 3300 FT AGL.
TRANSPORT WINDS.....SOUTHWEST 15 TO 20 MPH SHIFTING TO THE WEST
LATE IN THE AFTERNOON, THEN SHIFTING TO THE
EAST LATE IN THE AFTERNOON.
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....FAIR.
TIME (MDT) 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM
SKY (%).........79 74 64 55 47 44 48 56
WEATHER COV.....ARS ARS CHC CHC CHC SCH SCH SCH
WEATHER TYPE....SMK SMK SN SN RN RN RN RN
TSTM COV........
CWR.............20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
TEMP............30 32 38 41 43 44 44 42
RH..............67 63 53 48 45 46 49 53
20 FT WIND DIR..SW SW SW W W W W SW
20 FT WIND SPD..3 5 5 5 6 7 7 5
20 FT WIND GUST.10 13 15 15 17 20 20 18
MIX HGT (KFT)...1.3 1.7 2.1 2.3 2.6 3.3 2.7 1.8
TRANSP WIND DIR.SW SW SW SW W W W E
TRANSP WIND SPD.12 13 14 16 18 20 18 16
TONIGHT
SKY/WEATHER.........MOSTLY CLOUDY (55-65 PERCENT).
MIN TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 24.
MAX HUMIDITY........90-95 PERCENT.
WIND (20 FT)........EAST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 18
MPH. WINDS BECOME DIURNALLY DRIVEN/TERRAIN
VARIABLE AFTER 1800-1900.
CWR.................0 PERCENT.
MIXING HEIGHT.......400 TO 900 FT AGL.
TRANSPORT WINDS.....EAST 10 TO 15 MPH SHIFTING TO THE SOUTH
OVERNIGHT.
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....POOR.
TIME (MDT) 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10P 11P MID 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM
SKY (%).........64 63 61 67 64 58 58 53 56 62 58 61
WEATHER COV.....
WEATHER TYPE....
TSTM COV........
CWR.............0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TEMP............38 35 33 31 30 29 28 27 27 26 25 25
RH..............61 68 73 78 83 86 85 87 90 90 94 90
20 FT WIND DIR..E E E E E NE NE S S S SE E
20 FT WIND SPD..5 6 6 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2
20 FT WIND GUST.18 15 13 10 10 9 9 9 8 9 9 9
MIX HGT (KFT)...1.2 0.9 1.0 0.8 0.9 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.9 0.8 0.7
TRANSP WIND DIR.E E E E E NE NE E S SW SW SW
TRANSP WIND SPD.14 12 10 9 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
SATURDAY
SKY/WEATHER.........MOSTLY CLOUDY (70-80 PERCENT). CHANCE OF SNOW
IN THE AFTERNOON. SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE
AFTERNOON.
MAX TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 51.
MIN HUMIDITY........30-35 PERCENT.
WIND (20 FT)........SOUTH-SOUTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH WITH GUSTS
AROUND 18 TO 22 MPH. BEST CHANCE FOR GUSTS IN
OPEN, UNSHELTERED AREAS AND SOUTH FACING SLOPES.
CWR.................20 PERCENT.
MIXING HEIGHT.......3300 TO 3800 FT AGL.
TRANSPORT WINDS.....SOUTHWEST 10 TO 15 MPH INCREASING TO 20 TO 30
MPH LATE IN THE MORNING, THEN SHIFTING TO THE
NORTH AROUND 20 MPH LATE IN THE AFTERNOON.
SMOKE DISPERSAL.....GOOD.
TIME (MDT) 6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM
SKY (%).........68 60 70 80 77 73 70 73 76 79 86 93
WEATHER COV..... CHC CHC CHC CHC CHC CHC
WEATHER TYPE.... SN SN SN SN SN SN
TSTM COV........
CWR.............20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20
TEMP............25 27 29 31 34 38 42 46 50 51 49 44
RH..............88 78 72 69 63 56 48 42 35 34 37 45
20 FT WIND DIR..SE SE S S S S S S SW SW SW NE
20 FT WIND SPD..2 2 3 5 6 7 8 8 9 9 8 8
20 FT WIND GUST.9 9 10 13 15 18 20 21 21 21 21 20
MIX HGT (KFT)...0.5 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.5 2.1 2.8 3.1 3.4 3.8 2.8 1.8
TRANSP WIND DIR.SW SW SW S SW SW SW SW SW SW W N
TRANSP WIND SPD.7 7 8 10 15 20 23 25 26 26 23 20
FORECAST DAYS 3 THROUGH 7
SUNDAY
MUCH COLDER. SNOW AND SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN. LOWS AROUND 15.
HIGHS IN THE MID 20S. NORTH WINDS AROUND 15 MPH.
MONDAY
NOT AS COOL. MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 5. HIGHS IN THE UPPER
30S. WEST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH.
TUESDAY
WARMER. MOSTLY CLOUDY. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW. LOWS IN THE MID
20S. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S. WEST WINDS AROUND 10 MPH.
WEDNESDAY
PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE LOWER 40S. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S.
THURSDAY
PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE LOWER 40S. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 70S.
FORECASTER...SE
REQUESTED BY...JAMES BACHELOR
TYPE OF REQUEST...WILDFIRE
.TAG 2605654.0/UNR
.DELDT 03/13/26
.FORMATTERVERSION 2.0.0
.EMAIL TODD.HOOVER@USDA.GOV,JAMES.BACHELOR@STATE.SD.US,SDGPC@FIRENET.GOG
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