The fire weather watches that covered Nevada and North Texas on Sunday have escalated. The National Weather Service has issued 10 active Red Flag Warnings now spanning five states — Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Texas — as critical conditions shift from anticipated to present across a broad swath of the country.
The warnings add Idaho and Montana to the threat zone and extend Texas coverage south to the Gulf Coast, significantly widening the geographic footprint from 24 hours ago. Southwest winds of 15 to 30 mph, with gusts reaching 40 to 45 mph, are combining with relative humidity readings as low as 10 percent. The National Weather Service warns that any fires that develop under these conditions will likely spread rapidly.
In Oregon, the South Central Desert — including Bureau of Land Management land in eastern Lake and western Harney counties — faces southwest-to-west winds gusting to 40 mph. Warnings also cover Modoc County in California’s northeastern corner, the Surprise Valley, and eastern Lassen County, creating a connected fire-weather corridor along the Oregon-California border.
Nevada’s Humboldt County and the West Humboldt Basin in Pershing County are under warning, with winds there forecast at 20 to 30 mph and gusts to 45 mph. Northern Washoe County is also included.
Montana’s warnings cover the Fort Peck Reservation and Daniels, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Dawson, McCone, Prairie, Richland, and Wibaux counties — a large expanse of eastern rangeland where fire suppression resources are often limited.
Texas carries the widest populated footprint. Warnings cover more than 20 named counties and zones from the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs — including Collin, Denton, Tarrant, Dallas, Hood, Johnson, Parker, Ellis, Rockwall, Kaufman, and Henderson counties — south through the Houston weather metro, where Inland and Coastal Harris, Brazoria, and Galveston counties are included alongside Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula. The combination of suburban density and dry, gusty conditions raises the risk that grass fires could advance into developed areas along the metropolitan fringe.
Authorities in southern Oregon have directed residents to weather.gov/medford/wildfire for county-level emergency sign-up forms and current fire restriction information. The National Weather Service is urging all residents under warnings to avoid any activity that could produce a spark — a single ignition in winds above 40 mph with humidity near 10 percent can outrun initial suppression efforts in minutes.
Conditions are expected to remain critical through Monday afternoon before any moderation in wind or humidity relief occurs across the affected regions.