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2w ago

Rare PDS Red Flag Warning Triggers Power Shutoffs in Southern Colorado as Central U.S. Fire Risk Expands

The designation signals extreme fire behavior that can outrun evacuation in places facing single‑digit humidity and fierce winds.

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MAMMOTH LAKES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 28: A person walks past a walkway between a snowbank as snow falls in the Sierra Nevada mountains from yet another storm system which is bringing heavy snow to higher elevations on March 28, 2023 in Mammoth Lakes, California. The Pacific storm is delivering widespread rain and mountain snow to the U.S. west coast in Northern California and Oregon. After years of drought, the state snowpack average for California may hit an all time record from the several feet of new snow expected to fall during the storm in parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Overview

  • NWS Pueblo, which issued the rare PDS Red Flag Warning Wednesday for the San Luis and Upper Arkansas valleys and nearby mountain ranges, warned that fires could spread so fast that escape may be impossible.
  • Xcel Energy planned public‑safety power shutoffs for about 7,100 customers in the San Luis Valley starting at noon Wednesday to reduce ignition risk, with crews set to restore service once winds ease.
  • Following Wednesday’s peak, Red Flag Warnings return Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with gusts up to about 45 mph and humidity below 10% in parts of eastern and southern Colorado, and a Fire Weather Watch remains posted for Friday.
  • Red Flag Warnings also stretch across more than a dozen states from New Mexico into the northern Plains, where forecasters cite humidity as low as 5–15% and gusts up to 55–60 mph and note some dry thunderstorms could spark new fires.
  • Separately, the Storm Prediction Center expects several days of severe storms from the Plains to the South through the weekend, including large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes, creating overlapping wildfire and storm hazards for communities and power grids.