National Fire News

Widespread critical to extreme conditions will develop across the Inland Northwest by late morning. These conditions are expected to worsen into the afternoon and evening while spreading eastward into the Northern Rockies and the far northern Great Basin. Unseasonably strong wind gusts of 35–50 mph are anticipated in many areas, with minimum RH 5-25%. Localized gusts of 60+ mph are likely over portions of northwest Montana tonight. Under these extreme conditions, many existing fires will display extreme growth, and new ignitions will be extremely resistant to control. Ahead of the strong cold front, a very large expanse of record or near-record heat will affect areas from inland California and the Southwest to the Great Basin and Northern Rockies, with some locations approaching monthly records for August. RH of 3–15% will return across inland California, the Great Basin, southwest Wyoming, and the West Slope. Moderate southwest winds may create elevated conditions in these areas for several hours. Pronounced drying is also expected in northern Arizona and the Four Corners, with minimum RH falling to 7–18%. Very isolated dry thunderstorms are possible for southwest Montana and north central Idaho into the Rockies with wet thunderstorms for central and eastern New Mexico. Cooler- than-average temperatures east of the Mississippi River Valley with areas of strong to severe thunderstorms from the Ohio River Valley to the Southeast.