Twenty-seven Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches are active across eight states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington — as a combination of dry lightning, low relative humidity, gusty winds, and warm temperatures creates critical fire weather conditions through at least Thursday evening, the National Weather Service said.
The alerts cover a wide arc of the American West, from Southern California’s Mojave Desert foothills to the Columbia Basin of eastern Washington and Oregon, with additional zones across Nevada’s Great Basin and Colorado’s high-elevation terrain.
In Southern California, isolated to scattered elevated thunderstorms are forecast to produce lightning strikes with little to no rainfall over the Victor Valley, Apple Valley, Lucerne Valley, and Johnson Valley areas of San Bernardino County. The National Weather Service warned that dry lightning could ignite new fire starts and that any fires that develop could spread rapidly, compounded by gusty and erratic outflow winds.
Across eastern Washington, the National Weather Service office in Spokane issued Fire Weather Watches for wind and low relative humidity covering the Colville Reservation, Okanogan Valley, Central Washington Cascade Foothills, Waterville Plateau, and both the Western and Eastern Columbia Basin — including the Spokane weather metro area. Conditions are expected to peak Thursday afternoon through Thursday evening.
The Pendleton forecast office issued watches for the Yakima/Kittitas Valley and the Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon and Washington, also citing low relative humidity and wind as the primary drivers. The Lower Palouse and Snake River corridor is included in that coverage.
Nevada carries some of the broadest geographic exposure, with active alerts from Southeastern Humboldt County and northern Lander County through White Pine, Nye, Elko, and Eureka Counties. The Northern Nye County/Mojave zone — north of Las Vegas weather — is among the flagged areas, alongside Central Nevada’s Toiyabe range and much of the state’s central and northern basin-and-range country.
In Colorado, the alerts target high-elevation terrain. Zones above 9,000 feet in Grand, Summit, Jackson, Boulder, Gilpin, Clear Creek, and Park Counties are under warnings or watches, along with lower-elevation areas in Grand and Summit Counties. Arizona’s Southern Gila County and the Tonto National Forest foothills round out the affected zones.
A Red Flag Warning, as defined by the National Weather Service, means critical fire weather conditions are either occurring or will occur shortly. A Fire Weather Watch — the designation issued at several of the affected offices — signals that such conditions are forecast but have not yet materialized and that warnings may follow.
Land managers, ranchers, and residents in all affected zones are advised to monitor local National Weather Service forecasts closely as conditions develop Thursday.