National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heat Builds in the West; Extremely Critical Fire Weather in the Northwest

A heat wave over the Southwest will intensify this week, peaking and expanding into the Intermountain West and northern High Plains this weekend. Critical to extremely critical fire weather conditions are forecast from the Northwest and the northern Great Basin this weekend. Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warnings have been issued. Read More >

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EXPERIMENTAL...FIRE WEATHER POINT FORECAST MATRICES
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE Blacksburg VA
501 PM EDT Sat Aug 1 2026

VAZ046-020800-
RAWS 441101
37.39N  78.80W Elev. 804 ft
501 PM EDT Sat Aug 1 2026

Date           08/01/26      Sun 08/02/26            Mon 08/03/26            Tue
UTC 3hrly     21 00 03 06 09 12 15 18 21 00 03 06 09 12 15 18 21 00 03 06 09 12
EDT 3hrly     17 20 23 02 05 08 11 14 17 20 23 02 05 08 11 14 17 20 23 02 05 08

MIN/MAX TEMP                 70          81          70          85          68
TEMP             81 76 74 72 71 75 79 80 76 73 73 72 72 78 84 82 77 73 71 69 71
DEWPT            69 67 68 69 70 73 73 74 74 73 73 72 72 76 76 76 75 73 71 69 71
MIN/MAX RH                   96          82         100          78         100
RH               67 74 82 90 97 94 82 82 94100100100100 94 77 82 94100100100100
WIND DIR          S  S  S SE SE  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S SW  S  S  S  S  S  S  S
WIND SPD          9 10  6  5  6  5  6  6  5  5  5  5  5  6  6  6  4  2  2  3  3
WIND GUST        19 20 17                      16                              
CLOUDS           B2 B2 OV OV OV OV B2 B2 OV OV OV B2 B2 B1 B2 B2 B1 B1 B1 B1 B2
CLOUDS(%)        84 81 90 90 93 89 79 86 90 88 89 85 83 64 76 76 59 60 65 67 72
VSBY             10 10 10  8  4  5  4  7  7  3  7  7  7  7  7  7  7  7  7  7  7
POP 12HR                     30          70          90          60          40
RAIN SHWRS             IS SC SC SC NM NM  O  O SC SC IS IS NM NM SC SC       SC
TSTMS                     IS    IS NM NM SC SC IS          SC SC SC            
MIX HGT          <1 <1 <1 <1  1  2  2  3 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1  2  4  4 <1            
T WIND DIR        S  S  S  S SE  S  S  S  S  S  S  S  S SW SW  S  S            
T WIND SPD       14 24 14 13 11 11 10 12 12 11 12 11 11 18 13 14 17            
DISPERSION       PR FR PR PR             PR PR PR PR             VP VP VP VP   
ADI              13 22 10  9 18 26 28 39  8  8  8  8 13 47 52 55 12            
MAX LVORI         3  3  4  6  5  4  4  4  8  8  8  8  5  4  3  3  6            
STABILITY         D  D  E  E  C  C  C  C  E  E  E  E  C  C  C  C  E            
CEILING              4100  1300   700  4300   900   500  1100  3800  3400      
STA PRES            29.15 29.14 29.13 29.09 29.11 29.12 29.16 29.15            


Date           08/04Wed 08/05/26Thu 08/06/26Fri 08/07/26Sat 08/08/26
UTC 6hrly     18 00 06 12 18 00 06 12 18 00 06 12 18 00 06 12 18 00
EDT 6hrly     14 20 02 08 14 20 02 08 14 20 02 08 14 20 02 08 14 20

MAX/MIN TEMP       83      68      85      69      86      70      88      70      88
TEMP          83 79 72 70 83 78 72 71 84 79 72 71 85 80 72 72 86 81
DEWPT         76 75 72 70 76 75 72 71 76 75 72 71 76 75 72 72 76 75
RH            80 88100100 80 91100100 77 88100100 75 85100100 72 82
WIND SPD          <15     <15     <15     <15     <15     <15     <15     <15     <15
AVG CLOUDS    B1 B2 B1 B1 B1 B1 SC SC SC B1 B1 SC SC B1 SC SC FW B1
POP 12HR           70      40      50      20      40      20      40      20      30
RAIN SHWRS    SC NM SC       SC IS       SC IS       SC IS       SC
TSTMS            SC IS       SC IS       SC IS       IS IS       SC

$$


This product is for planning and review purposes only and is not
to be substituted for an official fire weather spot forecast. The
data displayed are calculated from a 2.5 by 2.5 km digital
database and only approximates weather conditions in highly
varying terrain. Please relay any comments you have to the NWS via
email at rnk.webmaster@noaa.gov.

Below is a weather element key for this product.
(Note...winds do not reflect local terrain effects.)

DAY 1 THROUGH 3...
MAX/MIN TEMP OR MIN/MAX TEMP(F).....Maximum/Minimum air temperature
TEMP(F).............................Air temperature
DEWPT(F)............................Dew point temperature
MIN/MAX RH OR MAX/MIN RH(%).........Maximum/Minimum humdity
RH(%)...............................Relative humidity
WIND DIR(8 POINT COMPASS)...........Wind direction
WIND SPD(MPH).......................Wind speed
CLOUDS(CATEGORY)....................Cloud cover category
     EXAMPLE: CL = CLEAR; FW = FEW; SC = Scattered; BK = Broken; OV = Overcast
CLOUDS(%)...........................Cloud cover as a percentage
VSBY................................Visibility value in statute miles
POP 12HR(%).........................Probability for accumulating precipitation
WEATHER...
   TYPE...
       RAIN...........Rain
       RAIN SHWRS.....Rain showers
       TSTMS..........Thunderstorms
       DRIZZLE........Drizzle
       SNOW...........Snow
       SNOWSHWRS......Snow showers
       SLEET..........Sleet
       FRZG RAIN......Freezing rain
       FRZG DRZL......Freezing drizzle
   COVERAGE...
       IS.............Isolated
       SC.............Scattered
       NM.............Numerous
       O..............Occasional
       S..............Slight chance
       C..............Chance
       L..............Likely
       WD.............Widespread
       D..............Definite
       AR.............Areas
       PA.............Patchy

MIX HGT(THOUSANDS OF FT AGL)........Mixing height
     Example: 6 = 6000 feet; 12 = 12000 feet; <1 = Less than 1000 foot
t WIND DIR(8 POINT COMPASS).........Transport Wind direction
T WIND SPD(MPH).....................Transport Wind speed
DISPERSION(CATEGORY)................Smoke Dispersion category
     Values: vp =Very Poor;PR = Poor; FR = Fair; GD = Good;
ADI (INDEX).........................Atmospheric Dispersion Index
MAX LVORI (INDEX)...................Low Visibility Occurrence Risk Index
STABILITY (CATEGORY)................Pasquill Turner Stability
CEILING (FT)........................Ceiling
STA PRES (INCHES MERCURY)...........Station pressure

Day 4 Through 7...
MAX/MIN TEMP OR MIN/MAX TEMP(F).....Maximum/Minimum air temperature
TEMP(F).............................Air temperature
DEWPT(F)............................Dew Point temperature
RH(%)...............................Relative Humidity
WIND SPD(MPH).......................Wind Speed
     Example: <15 = less than 15 MPH; 15> = 15 MPH or greater
AVE CLOUDS(CATEGORY)................Average Cloud Cover Category
POP 12HR(%).........................Probability for accumulating precipitation
WEATHER.............................See Day 1 through 3 weather descriptions