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
131 PM EDT Sat Aug 1 2026

VAZ018-012000-
RAWS 444002
37.56N  80.18W Elev. 2702 ft
131 PM EDT Sat Aug 1 2026

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

MAX/MIN TEMP                 84          68          77          68          82
TEMP                   83 81 72 71 70 69 68 72 75 76 73 70 70 69 69 76 81 79 72
DEWPT                  63 65 68 67 67 68 68 72 73 74 72 70 69 68 69 72 72 73 71
MAX/MIN RH                   51         100          93         100          75
RH                     51 58 87 87 90 97100100 94 94 97100 97 97100 87 74 82 97
WIND DIR                S  S  S  S  S SE SE SE SE SE  S SE SW SW SW  S  S  S  S
WIND SPD                6  8  6  6  5  4  4  4  5  4  3  2  1  1  1  2  3  3  2
WIND GUST              19 21 23 23 23 18 16 14 16 14 13                        
CLOUDS                 OV B2 OV B2 OV OV B2 OV OV OV OV B2 B2 B1 SC B1 B2 B2 B1
CLOUDS(%)              92 79 91 79 90 94 87 93 93 96 89 78 74 67 49 56 84 84 66
VSBY                   10 10  7  6  7  5  2  3  4  7  7  3  7  7  7  7  7  7  7
POP 12HR                     30          90         100          80          80
RAIN SHWRS                IS SC SC NM  O  O SC NM  O  O NM       IS IS  O  O SC
TSTMS                     IS IS IS IS IS    IS SC NM SC IS          IS SC SC IS
MIX HGT                 5  4  1 <1 <1 <1 <1  1  2  2 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1  3  4  3 <1
T WIND DIR              S  S  S SE SE SE SE  S  S  S  S  S  S SW SW SW SW SW SW
T WIND SPD             18 18 12 13 12  9 12 13 17 19 14 11 10  8  8 13 10  5  4
DISPERSION                   PR PR PR VP             VP VP VP VP             VP
ADI                    76 66  8  9  8  6 10 22 45 48  7  5  5  4  9 47 52 23  2
MAX LVORI               1  1  5  5  5  6  8  5  4  4  6  9  7  8  8  4  3  3  9
STABILITY               C  C  E  E  E  E  C  C  C  C  F  F  F  F  A  B  B  B  F
CEILING                    3000   900   600   600  1800   500   600  None  3000
STA PRES                  27.65 27.63 27.62 27.62 27.58 27.61 27.63 27.68 27.69


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

MIN/MAX TEMP       67      80      67      82      67      83      68      86
TEMP          68 68 80 72 69 69 81 72 69 69 83 73 69 70 84 73
DEWPT         67 68 72 71 67 68 72 71 68 68 72 72 67 68 72 71
RH            97100 77 97 93 97 74 97 97 97 70 97 93 93 67 93
WIND SPD          <15     <15     <15     <15     <15     <15     <15     <15
AVG CLOUDS    B1 B1 B1 B2 B1 B1 B1 B2 SC SC SC B1 SC SC SC B1
POP 12HR           30      80      20      70      20      50      20      50
RAIN SHWRS    SC    SC  O IS    SC NM IS    IS SC IS       SC
TSTMS         IS    IS SC IS       SC IS       SC 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