Fire Weather Watch

FROM: NWS Rapid City SD
AREA: Central Black Hills; Southern Black Hills; Fall River County Area; Eastern Foot Hills; Custer County Plains; Pine Ridge Area; West Central Plains; Haakon County Area; Badlands Area; Bennett County Area; Mellette and Todd Counties; Tripp County; Southern Campbell; Weston County Plains
SENT: 2026-02-16T05:32:00-07:00

Fire Weather Watch issued February 16 at 5:32AM MST until February 17 at 6:00PM MST by NWS Rapid City SD

…CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS POSSIBLE TUESDAY…

.Very dry air will spread across the region Tuesday, with RH’s
expected into the mid to lower teens. In addition, strong gusty
westerly winds will develop with some areas seeing gusts over
50 mph, especially portions of northeast WY and far southwest SD.
The combination of receptive fuels, strong gusty winds, and very
low RH would support critical fire weather conditions.

* AFFECTED AREA…Fire Weather Zones 315 Southern Campbell, 317
Weston County Plains, 320 Central Black Hills, 321 Southern
Black Hills, 322 Fall River County Area, 324 Eastern Foot
Hills, 325 Custer County Plains, 326 Pine Ridge Area, 329 West
Central Plains, 331 Haakon County Area, 332 Badlands Area, 333
Bennett County Area, 334 Mellette and Todd Counties and 335
Tripp County.

* WINDS…West 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 55 mph.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY…As low as 13 percent.

* IMPACTS…The combination of gusty winds and low relative
humidity would produce critical fire weather conditions.

A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditions
are forecast to occur. Listen for later forecasts and possible
Red Flag Warnings.

Alert Expiration: 2026-02-16T20:45:00-07:00