Red Flag warnings and Fire Weather Watches are issued by the National Weather Service when conditions are critical for rapid wildfire growth — typically a combination of low humidity, high temperatures, dry fuels, and strong winds. For warnings in effect now, see weather.gov or the NOAA Storm Prediction Center's fire-weather outlooks; FireVerge does not show live alerts yet.
Each NWS forecast office sets its own thresholds. Common triggers across the western US:
A proxy for where Red Flag warnings tend to bite hardest. Click for the full state profile.
| # | State | 2025 wildland fires | Active fires |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 24,762 | 66 |
| 2 | Texas | 21,355 | 12 |
| 3 | Florida | 10,999 | 5 |
| 4 | South Carolina | 9,955 | 0 |
| 5 | Illinois | 9,575 | 0 |
| 6 | Washington | 9,317 | 24 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 9,296 | 3 |
| 8 | Mississippi | 8,227 | 3 |
| 9 | Tennessee | 7,388 | 0 |
| 10 | Missouri | 7,293 | 0 |
| 11 | Pennsylvania | 6,805 | 0 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 6,587 | 26 |
| 13 | Alabama | 6,200 | 4 |
| 14 | Ohio | 5,767 | 0 |
| 15 | Virginia | 5,713 | 0 |
| 16 | Arkansas | 5,681 | 3 |
| 17 | Oregon | 5,435 | 60 |
| 18 | Iowa | 5,225 | 0 |
| 19 | Massachusetts | 5,157 | 1 |
| 20 | Michigan | 4,926 | 3 |
| 21 | Colorado | 4,663 | 12 |
| 22 | Louisiana | 4,548 | 5 |
| 23 | Kansas | 4,143 | 0 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 4,003 | 11 |
| 25 | New Jersey | 3,904 | 0 |
Red Flag warnings and Fire Weather Watches are issued by local National Weather Service forecast offices and published at weather.gov. FireVerge does not show live alerts yet; the state table ranks states by NFIRS wildland-fire counts and the latest NIFC active-fire snapshot.