Extremely Critical fire weather outlook issued for parts of Utah, Arizona, and Nevada

SPC issued an Extremely Critical fire weather outlook for parts of central and southwestern Utah, northwest Arizona, and extreme southeastern Nevada for June 26. The forecast also places much of Utah, eastern Nevada, northern Arizona, southwestern Wyoming, and far western Colorado in a Critical fire-weather area.

The center said a seasonally abnormal trough and associated mid-level jet moving over the Pacific Northwest would create significant fire-weather concerns across the Great Basin and much of the Southwest. A corridor of strong southwest winds is forecast from northern Arizona through southwestern Wyoming on Friday afternoon.

Southwest winds of 40-55 km/h (25-35 mph) are forecast within the highest-concern corridor, where relative humidity is expected to fall to 5–15%. SPC said the combination follows dry thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday and would increase concern for new ignitions, lightning holdovers, and ongoing large fires.

The agency also forecast several days of poor overnight humidity recovery and residual gusty winds, conditions that would further intensify the fire environment. The lower-wind surrounding area includes parts of Utah, Nevada, Arizona, far western Colorado, southwestern Wyoming, far western New Mexico, and southeastern California.

The National Weather Service office in Grand Junction forecasts showers and thunderstorms across eastern Utah and western Colorado through Thursday evening, followed by warmer, drier, and windier conditions on Friday. Its forecast discussion said isolated dry lightning cannot be ruled out during the thunderstorm phase.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center’s June 25 report, 86 new fires were reported nationwide the previous day, including six new large fires. The agency listed 37 uncontained large fires and more than 6 700 personnel assigned to incidents across the country.

NIFC’s June 25 incident situation report listed the Dry Creek Fire near Rifle, Colorado, among active incidents in the Rocky Mountain Area.

References:

¹ Day 2 Fire Weather Outlook – NWS/SPC – June 25, 2026

² National Fire News – NIFC – June 25, 2026

Teo Blašković

I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.

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