Wildfire smoke affecting air quality in the Southwest as critical fire weather continues
Smoke from wildfires burning across the region will lead to unhealthy air quality levels
Parts of the Southwest under critical threat of wildfires on Sunday
Dry conditions, strong winds and warm temperatures are increasing the wildfire risk to critical levels for parts of the Southwest on Sunday.
The risk of wildfires in the Southwest remains at critical levels on Sunday as dry conditions, low relative humidity and strong winds persist in the region.
Several wildfires are burning across the Southwest, and smoke from those fires is affecting the air quality.
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NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has highlighted an area of east-central Arizona, including the city of Holbrook and west-central New Mexico, as an area with critical fire weather conditions on Sunday.
There's also an area in southeastern Utah that will see critical conditions.
Elevated fire weather conditions exist from central Nevada through southern Utah, eastern Arizona and western New Mexico.
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Because of the elevated and critical fire weather conditions, Fire Weather Warnings are in effect for southern Utah, including the cities of Moab, Bluff and Big Water.
A small area of western Colorado is also under a Fire Weather Warning.
Anyone living or working in those areas should limit activities that could cause a spark and should properly dispose of cigarettes.
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Winds will be quite strong across the region, with places like Tucson, Arizona, Santa Fe, New Mexico and Alamosa, Colorado, seeing gusts between 20-30 mph on Sunday.
Winds will be stronger in Flagstaff, Arizona, where winds could gust up to 40 mph on Sunday.
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Relative humidity levels will be quite low in Southern California and Las Vegas, with levels remaining in the single digits on Sunday.
Levels will remain in the teens in the Southwest, except for Tucson, where it will stay about 7%.
And in Moab, Utah, where critical fire weather conditions are expected, relative humidity levels will hover around 8%.
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And as fires continue to burn across the region, smoke will affect air quality levels.
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In fact, Air Quality Alerts are in effect in places like Silver City and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, because of the thick smoke that's filling the air.
People living or working in areas where air quality is unhealthy should try and stay indoors until conditions improve. This includes people with asthma, chronic pulmonary disease, lunch cancer and heart disease, according to the National Weather Service.
Be sure to download the FOX Weather app for the latest forecast and weather alerts for your exact location, plus the 24/7 livestream of America's Weather Team.