HIGH FIRE DANGER IN THE WEST May 10, 2004 — Very strong and gusty winds, low humidity and warm temperatures along with a high fire danger over much of the southwest United States will produce critical fire weather conditions Monday into Tuesday, according to the NOAA Storm Prediction Center. (Click NOAA satellite image for larger view of California wildfires taken May 5, 2004, at 5:27 p.m. EDT. Click here for high resolution version, which is a large file. Please credit “NOAA.”) "A strong
upper-level storm system digging into the western United States will dramatically
increase the south, southwesterly flow over much of the region from the
Lower Colorado River Valley northward across Arizona, eastern Nevada and
most of Utah," said Phillip Bothwell, senior development meteorologist
at the NOAA Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. Sustained winds of
35 to 45 miles an hour with higher gusts and lowest humidity in the single
digits to the low teens are expected Monday into Monday night ahead of
the digging upper-level trough and approaching Northwestern New Mexico, western Colorado and eastern Utah will also see low humidity, but the winds are not expected to be quite as strong across those areas, Bothwell said. Strong south to southeasterly winds in southeastern Montana are likely Monday, but moderate humidity values are expected there. Bothwell predicts that on Tuesday, as the cold front moves southeastward across the region, the strong and gusty southwesterly flow and low humidity will continue across Arizona and parts of western New Mexico, as well as in parts of eastern Utah and western Colorado. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation�s coastal and marine resources. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Relevant
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