…MARGINALLY CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR SOUTHERN NEW
MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS ON SUNDAY…
…CRITICAL TO NEAR EXTREME FIRE CONDITIONS FOR SOUTHERN NEW
MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS ON TUESDAY…
.Breezy west flow continues today with a lee surface low over
eastern New Mexico. Winds will be slightly weaker than Saturday,
but still likely to reach critical thresholds and promote rapid
fire spread. The winds, in combination with very low humidity and
critically dry fuels, will lead to critical fire weather
conditions for several hours Sunday afternoon.
Another system will approach the area on Tuesday, which will bring
strong winds with 20-foot gusts as high as 50 MPH. Lowland RH
values will drop well into the teens with values of 15 to 25
percent in the mountains. Nevertheless, given the dry fuels, the
fire danger will remain very high in the Lincoln and Capitan
National Forests and is included within the Fire Weather Watch.
…FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
TUESDAY EVENING FOR STRONG WINDS, DRY FUELS, AND LOW RELATIVE
HUMIDITY FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO AND FAR WEST TEXAS…
The National Weather Service in El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa has
issued a Red Flag Warning for Noon Sunday to 7 PM MDT and a Fire
Weather Watch, which is in effect from Tuesday afternoon through
Tuesday evening.
* AFFECTED AREA…Fire Weather Zone 055 Texas Fire Weather Zone
055 El Paso County, Fire Weather Zone 056 Texas Fire Weather
Zone 056 Hudspeth County, Fire Weather Zone 111 Southwest
Deserts and Lowlands/Las Cruces BLM/GLZ, Fire Weather Zone 112
South Central Lowlands and Southern Rio Grande Valley/BLM/GLZ
and Fire Weather Zone 113 Capitan and Sacramento
Mountains/Lincoln NF/LNZ.
* TIMING…For the Warning, Sunday Afternoon from Noon through 7
PM MDT. For the Watch, Tuesday afternoon Noon through 9 PM MDT.
* WINDS…For Sunday, West winds around 20 mph with gusts up to 40
mph. For Tuesday, West winds 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 50
mph.
* RELATIVE HUMIDITY…For Sunday, 7 to 13 percent. For Tuesday, 10
to 15 percent below 7500 and 15 to 25 percent above 7500 feet.
* EXPERIMENTAL RFTI…For Sunday, 3 to 5 or Near-Critical to
Critical. For Tuesday, 4 to 7 or critical to near-extreme
* IMPACTS…any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly.
Outdoor burning is not recommended.