• RAPID CITY, S.D. -   South Dakota Wildland Fire Division personnel responded to two small lightning caused fires this weekend, both on state jurisdiction.
• The Powerline Draw Fire was a single-tree snag in a remote area of Custer State Park. 
• The Curt Fire was less than a tenth of an acre on the Argyle road in the Hot Springs Field Office area.  
• "While our area has received rain and fine vegetation is beginning to green up, the larger fuels and trees still suffer from the effects of drought and are ready to burn," said Jim Strain, Assistant Chief for Operations with South Dakota Wildland Fire Division.
• Although moisture levels this year are significantly higher than a year ago, South Dakota Wildland Fire is reminding residents not to take moderate fire danger for granted.
• Fire management officials said lighter vegetation, such as grass and shrubs, can dry out quickly. When combined with dead vegetation from last year, and depending on conditions, igniting light vegetation can easily fuel a fire.
• Outdoor fire safety is always important. Recommendations such as knowing fire restrictions, extinguishing smoking materials properly, and parking out of tall grass can help keep residents safe from starting a wildfire. 
• South Dakota Wildland Fire can be found on Twitter @SDWildlandFire and on Facebook by searching SD Wildland Fire. 

If it seems like we had very few dry days at Aberdeen for the past several months, you would be right as the precipitation data at Aberdeen shows this to be true. From March 1st through June 9th at Aberdeen, 57 out of the 101 days had at least a trace or more of precipitation or 56 percent of the time period. Recently, from May 15th through June 9th, Aberdeen has recorded a trace or more of rainfall for 19 out of the 26 days or 73 percent of the time period. Since March 1st, the longest dry stretch of days at Aberdeen has been five days with and average dry stretch of two days. Therefore, it has not only been cool at Aberdeen since March 1st, there have been very few dry periods. The precipitation has taken out most of the drought across the region. For the rest of the week and into the weekend, the chances of rainfall remain as the wet trend continues.