…RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM LATE MONDAY MORNING THROUGH
EARLY MONDAY EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR
SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA…
.Today continues to look very concerning from a fire weather
perspective. Strong westerly winds will increase up to 40 mph with
gusts as high as 65 mph as a cold front moves across the state
from northwest to southeast from mid-morning through late this
afternoon. A wind shift from west to northwest is expected with
the frontal passage. Before the front arrives, relative humidity
is forecast to fall into the 15 to 30 percent range, lowest along
the South Dakota border. Humidity will recover rather quickly
behind the wind shift, but the overlap of lower humidity with the
very strong winds is expected to last for several hours across the
southern half of the state. Aside from cold ground and near-
surface soil temperatures, fuels have been reported as readily
burnable. Any fires that ignite on Monday will spread rapidly and
could quickly become very difficult to control.
* WINDS…West up to 40 mph with gusts up to 65 mph, shifting
northwest.
* RELATIVE HUMIDITY…As low as 18 percent.
* AFFECTED AREA…Southwest and south central North Dakota
* IMPACTS…Any fires that ignite will spread rapidly and quickly
become difficult to control or suppress.