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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 >

Fire Weather Forecast Banner for Craig County


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FNUS51 KRNK 011802
FWFRNK

Fire Weather Planning Forecast for SW VA...SE WV and NW NC
National Weather Service Blacksburg VA
202 PM EDT Sat Aug 1 2026

.DISCUSSION...

Scattered showers/storms will continue to spread over the area this 
afternoon, and especially overnight tonight as a warm front moves 
into the area. A widespread wetting rainfall is expected tonight, 
with repeated rain chances over the next several days due to a cold 
front stalling across the area. MinRH this afternoon will be around 
50%, but increases to 70-80% over the next several days. 

Winds will be gusty this afternoon from the south, to around 20-25 
knots at times. Winds reduce overnight, but remain elevated through 
late Sunday with gusts up to 20 knots possible. Despite the elevated 
winds, the increase in moisture and expected wetting rainfall should 
keep the fire weather risk quite low through the forecast period.

VAZ018-020815-
Craig-
Including the city of New Castle
202 PM EDT Sat Aug 1 2026

                      Tonight      Sun          Sun Night    Mon          

Cloud Cover           Mcldy        Mcldy        Mcldy        Pcldy        
Precip Type           Tstms        Tstms        Tstms        Tstms        
Chance Precip (%)     90           90           90           70           
Chance of Thunder (%) 20           70           70           50           
Min/Max Temp          65           78           65           83           
Max/Min RH %          100          88           100          72           
Wind 20ft/early(mph)  S  5 G20     SE  3        Lgt/Var      Lgt/Var      
Wind 20ft/late(mph)   SE  4 G20    SE  3        Lgt/Var      Lgt/Var      
Precip Amount         0.31         0.36         0.27         0.07         
Precip Duration       5            9            6            5            
Precip Begin          6 PM         Continuing   Continuing   8 AM         
Precip End            Continuing   Continuing   2 AM         Continuing   
Mixing Hgt(ft-agl)                 2540                      4330         
Transport Wnd (mph)                S 18                      SW 12        
Vent Rate (mph-ft)                 45720                     51960        
Dispersion            Fair                      Very Poor                 
Max ADI Early         51 Gen Good  24 Fair      39 Fair      48 Gen Good  
Max ADI Late          9 Poor       51 Gen Good  5 Very Poor  58 Gen Good  
Max LVORI Early       5            8            8            9            
Max LVORI Late        8            4            9            3            

Remarks...None.

.FORECAST FOR DAYS 3 THROUGH 7...
.MONDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and a
slight chance of thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s. South winds
around 5 mph. 
.TUESDAY...Partly sunny with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. Minimum RH 79 percent.
South winds around 5 mph. 
.TUESDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of showers
and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s. Southeast winds around
5 mph. 
.WEDNESDAY...Partly sunny with showers likely and a chance of
thunderstorms. Highs around 80. Minimum RH 76 percent. South
winds around 5 mph. 
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers
and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 60s. Southwest winds around
5 mph. 
.THURSDAY...Mostly sunny with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 80s. Minimum RH 71 percent.
Southwest winds around 5 mph. 
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers
and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. Southwest winds around
5 mph. 
.FRIDAY...Mostly sunny with showers likely and a chance of
thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. Minimum RH 67 percent.
Southwest winds around 5 mph. 
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. Southwest winds around
5 mph. 
.SATURDAY...Mostly sunny with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. Minimum RH 65 percent. West
winds around 5 mph.

.OUTLOOK 8 TO 14 DAYS...
Temperatures above normal.  Precipitation near normal.