The National Weather Service will issue a red flag warning for Tucson and the surrounding area Tuesday, Feb. 15, due to low temperatures, high winds and dry conditions expected to persist throughout the day.
“Winds will be 25 to 30 mph,” NWS Tucson Forecaster Aaron Hardin said, with some gusts expected to exceed 40 mph. “And our relative humidity is going to be below 15% and there's going to be a high fire danger as well. There'll be conditions ripe for a fire. And if there's a fire, it'll be able to spread pretty rapidly.”
A Red Flag warning is issued by the Weather Service so forest officials know to curtail planned burns and to be on the lookout for wildfires. Campfires are generally prohibited as well.
According to Hardin, the gusty winds and cooler high temperatures in the low 60s should last into Wednesday, but the Red Flag warning will expire 11 p.m. Tuesday evening.
Wednesday could also bring some light showers, although Hardin said that would be more likely in higher elevations.
“Any precipitation there is will be light, just a few hundredths of an inch. Mount Lemmon could see maybe up to an inch or two of snow,” he said.
After that, fans of an early spring should take heart: it’s clear skies, low to no winds and temps in the low- to mid-70s into the weekend.
