Red Flag Warning Issued for Southeast New Mexico and Northwestern Permian Basin

Source: NOAA · Southeast New Mexico and Northwestern Permian Basin

This alert is no longer in effect.

NOAA issued it on May 26, 2026, 2 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 Midland/Odessa has issued a Red Flag Warning from noon CDT Sunday to 9 PM CDT for critical fire weather conditions across southeast New Mexico and surrounding areas.

Read this weather record in 30 seconds

Record type
Red Flag Warning
Affected area
Southeast New Mexico and Northwestern Permian Basin
Issued
May 26, 2026
Issuing authority
NWS Midland/Odessa TX

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 2 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Southeast New Mexico and Northwestern Permian Basin.

Alert Details

A Red Flag Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service in Midland/Odessa TX. The alert is effective from May 16 at 11:45AM CDT and covers the period from noon CDT /11 AM MDT/ Sunday to 9 PM CDT /8 PM MDT/ Sunday.

Affected Areas

The warning applies to Sacramento Foothills and Guadalupe Mountains; Chaves County Plains; Eddy Plains; Lea; Gaines; Dawson; Guadalupe Mountains Above 7000 Feet; Guadalupe and Delaware Mountains; Eastern Culberson County. This includes southeast New Mexico, the Guadalupe Mountains and surrounding foothills and plains, and the northwestern Permian Basin.

What You Should Do

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly. Residents should prepare for increased potential for fire growth due to strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures.

Expected Conditions

Winds are forecast to be southwest 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Relative humidity may drop as low as 5 percent. The RFTI is 5 to 8 (critical to extreme), with fuels in the 90th+ percentile.

Timeline

The Red Flag Warning is in effect from noon CDT Sunday through 9 PM CDT Sunday. A separate Fire Weather Watch is in effect from noon CDT to 9 PM CDT Monday for the same areas.

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 Midland/Odessa has issued a Red Flag Warning from noon CDT Sunday to 9 PM CDT for critical fire weather conditions across southeast New Mexico and surrounding areas.
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 Southeast New Mexico and Northwestern Permian Basin. 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.