Dry, hot, and sunny for this afternoon

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) -Starting off with some advisories and warnings:

Air Quality Alert:

Air quality alert for Cambell County until 6 PM MDT this evening. Northwesterly winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph will create blowing dust.

Red Flag Warning:

Southwest 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph and relative humidity as low as 10 percent will produce critical fire weather conditions. This is for eastern Fall River, Pine Ridge Area, Bennett County, and southern Jackson County until this evening.

Extreme Fire danger

Highs today will warm up to the 70s and 80s, and with relative humidity falling into the teens and 20s, combined with gusty winds, this will result in very High to Extreme Fire Danger for the cities of Belle Fourche, Spearfish, Whitewood, Rapid City, Edgemont, Hot Springs, Folsom, Box Elder, Caputa, Wall, Philip, Pine Ridge, Oglala, Kyle, Kadoka, Martin, White River, Mission, Winner, Sturgis, Piedmont, Summerset, Ellsworth AFB, Union Center, Hermosa, Buffalo Gap, and Fairburn. Temperatures begin to cool down starting Wednesday.

Today will be warm, very dry, and windy. Gusts could reach 45 mph at times as temperatures will have no problem climbing into the 80s for much of the area. Highs will be in the 70s for the Black Hills and northeast Wyoming. Warm and windy conditions will increase fire danger to very high and extreme across western South Dakota. Be extremely cautious with any items that could start a wildfire.

Plenty of sunshine will be on tap Wednesday, but temperatures will not be as warm as a cold front will move through the region. Highs will be in the 60s for many. Clouds will build, bringing a slight increase in humidity through the afternoon as a few showers are possible late in the day.

Shower chances continue Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Plenty of clouds will be around and highs will drop into the 40s and 50s across the area. The best chance for precipitation will look to arrive Thursday night into Friday morning. Some wet snow could mix in, but any accumulations will be minimal and limited to higher elevations.

Warmer air and of plenty sunshine will return Sunday and into early next week with slightly more seasonable highs in the 50s and 60s.