Denver Weather: Near Record Heat On Wednesday Causes Fire Danger To Reach A Different Level

DENVER (CBS4) - There is another Red Flag Warning for high fire danger in Colorado on Wednesday. This warning is even more significant thanks to even drier air, even stronger wind gusts, and even warmer temperatures.

Most neighborhoods along the Front Range will be at least 5-10 degrees warmer compared to Tuesday with high temperatures reaching close to 90 degrees. The record for the date in Denver is 90 degrees from May 11, 1961 and the city should be close to that record around 3 p.m.

The combination of very warm temperatures, very dry air, and wind gusts up to 35 mph in the metro area will push the fire danger into the "critical" category. That's worse than Tuesday when most of the region had "elevated" fire danger. The only other level is "extreme" which fortantnly will not be found in Colorado on Wednesday.

Most of the state has a Red Flag Warning until 9 p.m. on Wednesday including some high country areas where they are more unusual. North Park, Middle Park, South Park, Leadville, Salida, and Buena Visita all have a warning for high fire danger.

In addition to the threat of new fires starting in Colorado, wildfire smoke from large fires in New Mexico will be transported into the state on Wednesday. Most of the smoke should be on the Eastern Plains where resident will likely see and smell it. The likelihood of out-of-state smoke in the metro area seems small at this time.

Looking ahead to Thursday, it will be considerably cooler in most areas but the wind could be even stronger than Wednesday. Therefore there is already a Fire Weather Watch for the Denver metro area that should eventually become a Red Flag Warning for more high fire danger.

What the state really needs is moisture. Unfortunately the chance for any rain in the metro area at least a week away.