An updated fire weather watch was released by the National Weather Service on Monday at 12:34 a.m. valid for Tuesday between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. for Central Colorado.

Residents can expect winds to be southwest 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 55 mph today across the higher elevations and gusts up to 40 mph across the lower elevations. southwest winds 15 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph on Tuesday and relative humidity as low as 5%.

“Extreme fire danger is expected. Fires will catch and spread rapidly and erratically,” describes the NWS.

The full list of affected locations includes:

• Upper Arkansas River Valley including Lake County and Chaffee County

• Teller County/Rampart Range including Pikes Peak and Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

• Fremont County including Canon City/Howard/Texas Creek

• Eastern San Juan Mountains and La Garita Mountains including Wolf Creek Pass and Creede

• San Luis Valley including Alamosa/Del Norte/Fort Garland/Saguache

• Southern El Paso County including Fort Carson and Colorado Springs

• Pueblo County including Pueblo

A fire weather watch means that critical fire weather conditions are possible. Listen for later forecasts and possible red flag warnings.

Source: The National Weather Service