Wildfire risk threatens millions in Southwest

(NEW YORK) — Millions in the Southwest are on alert for fire weather through the end of the week due to extreme or critical risks posed by warmer temperatures, high winds and a low relative humidity, officials said.

Red flag warnings are in place for 4.5 million people — beginning on Wednesday and continuing through the rest of the workweek — due to the combination of warmer-than-normal temperatures, a relative humidity of around 10% to 15% and winds gusts between 25 to 40 mph, officials said.

In New Mexico, portions of the state, including Albuquerque, are under an extreme threat — the highest warning by the National Weather Service — due to wind gusts that could reach 60 mph on Thursday, along with a relative humidity between 5% and 10%. The extreme warning means a “threat to life and property from existing or potential wildfires due to weather and fuel conditions.”

Portions of eastern Arizona and New Mexico are under a critical fire risk, the second-highest level, including Tucson, Catalina Foothills, Las Cruces and Roswell, officials said.

These dry, gusty conditions will increase the threat of wildfires to these areas and will continue to intensify on Thursday, with most of New Mexico, western Texas, southeastern Colorado and the Oklahoma Panhandle under a critical threat, officials said.

The conditions should ease heading into the weekend, but portions of New Mexico and the Southwest could still remain in a critical wildfire threat through Friday, officials said.

Along with the threat of wildfires, another storm system will bring more rain and severe weather across the central U.S. beginning on Thursday and continuing throughout the weekend.

Five million people, including eastern Nebraska, Iowa, southern Minnesota and northern Missouri, are under a slight risk for severe weather on Thursday, which could bring hail, damaging winds and even possible tornadoes. Isolated severe storms could impact Omaha, Nebraska; and Davenport, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Thursday afternoon.

This system is expected to expand on Friday, with areas from north Texas through Michigan under a slight risk for scattered severe storms.