As a storm system strengthens, a zone of potentially damaging winds will encompass at least half a million square miles over the central United States into Tuesday evening. As winds increase, so will the wildfire danger.AccuWeather’s Bernie Rayno and Joe Lundberg break down the long-range forecast for the entire U.S. over the coming week.
Winds will howl from parts of Arizona and Texas, much of New Mexico, and as far north as portions of Montana, South Dakota and Minnesota into Monday night. This is about 500,000 square miles where frequent gusts between 40 and 60 mph are forecast, with locally brief spikes to higher speeds. Crosswinds this strong can make for difficult handling when traveling on vast open roads and trouble for aircraft when on approach or taking off.
Along I-25 on Tuesday, winds will blow mainly from the north and may pose less of a vehicle rollover threat along the highway despite 60-80 mph gusts in part of this zone. Farther to the east, winds over parts of the northern Plains and the Upper Midwest will howl from the east and northeast. Farther to the southeast, winds over the southern Plains to the middle Mississippi Valley will generally blow from the southwest and west.