RAPID CITY, SD — The National Weather Service Friday afternoon issued an air pollution alert for dust for Rapid City for west of the area known as ‘The Gap’. The alert period is scheduled from 3 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (tomorrow).
The alert is issued in collaboration with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Northwest winds 25 to 35 miles per hour with gusts around 50 miles per hour are forecasted during the alert period. The gusty winds will suspend fine dust in the air, producing poor air quality.
City Environmental Planner Morgan Twombly of the City’s Air Quality Office advises businesses and the public to take necessary precautions to minimize dust emissions and for those with health conditions, especially the elderly, young and anyone with respiratory problems, to avoid excessive physical exertion and reduce exposure. Operations which generate fugitive dust are advised to take extra measures to mitigate emissions during this time.
“We advise that any manipulation of soils cease or be minimized during these events. We also recommend that process equipment, waste pits, stockpiles, and construction sites be stabilized via watering or chemical treatments to increase pollution control,” Twombly said.
Visit the National Weather Service alerts update web page: https://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=usa&wwa=air%20quality%20alert. Hourly dust concentrations are available on the DANR web pagehttp://danr.sd.gov/Environment/AirQuality/AirMonitoring/
In addition, the ‘Air Quality Index’ link has been on the City’s website since 2021 and can be found at two locations on the City’s home page at www.rcgov.org – in the Community Bookmark and ‘What’s News In The City’ sections. The online feature displays the current air quality in the Rapid City areas, and any community in the nation, by simply inputting the zip code, city or state.