Red Flag Warning Issued for Lower Colorado River and Headwaters

Source: NOAA · Western Colorado

This alert is no longer in effect.

NOAA issued it on May 22, 2026, 3 months ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).

Areazine synthesizes this NWS weather alert directly from NOAA's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.

NWS Grand Junction has issued a Red Flag Warning for gusty winds, low humidity and dry fuels below 8000 feet in western Colorado until 8 PM MDT today, with another warning set for Saturday.

Read this weather record in 30 seconds

Record type
Red Flag Warning
Affected area
Western Colorado
Issued
May 22, 2026
Issuing authority
NWS Grand Junction CO

Fire-weather notices describe conditions that can support rapid fire spread; they do not report that a fire is present. Check local emergency sources for any active incident.

Record status: historical. It was issued 3 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Western Colorado.

Alert Details

The National Weather Service in Grand Junction has issued a Red Flag Warning for Fire Weather Zones 203 and 205 below 8000 feet. The alert is classified as Severe with Likely certainty and Expected urgency.

Affected Areas

The warning covers Fire Weather Zone 203 (Lower Colorado River) and Fire Weather Zone 205 (Colorado River Headwaters) in Colorado.

What You Should Do

A Red Flag Warning means critical fire weather conditions are occurring or will shortly occur. Exercise extreme caution with any outdoor burning.

Expected Conditions

Southwest winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph are expected. Relative humidity will range from 8 to 13 percent. Fires will catch and spread quickly under these conditions.

Timeline

The first Red Flag Warning is in effect until 8 PM MDT on May 15. A second Red Flag Warning is in effect from noon to 8 PM MDT on May 16.

Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗

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Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this NWS weather alert: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about this NWS weather alert.

What is this NWS weather alert about?
NWS Grand Junction has issued a Red Flag Warning for gusty winds, low humidity and dry fuels below 8000 feet in western Colorado until 8 PM MDT today, with another warning set for Saturday.
Which agency issued this alert?
This alert was issued by NOAA. The original notice is available at the source link at the bottom of this article.
How severe is this alert?
This alert is classified as "high" severity. Take precautions and monitor for updates.
What area is affected?
This alert affects Western Colorado. Check with NOAA for the most current geographic scope.
Where can I find more Weather Alerts updates?
Browse the full Weather Alerts feed on Areazine at areazine.com/weather/ for the latest updates from NOAA and other agencies.