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NWS Warns of Thunderstorms in Northern Plains, Critical Fire Weather in Southwest US

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The US National Weather Service on Monday said the northern Plains region is expected to experience continued severe thunderstorms, with potential for significant wind threats with gusts ranging between 60 to 100 miles per hour.

The region stretching from Oklahoma into Missouri and in the Tennessee Valley is likely to face heavy rainfall through Monday, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the southwest US is expected to encounter critical fire weather conditions through Tuesday.

The NWS early Monday issued a red flag warning for New Mexico's Farmington, Gallup, Grants, and Santa Fe. TXNM Energy (TXNM) unit Public Service Co. of New Mexico and Xcel Energy (XEL) are among the primary electricity suppliers in the state.

In Arizona, a similar warning was raised for Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City, Kingman, Grand Canyon Village, Seligman, Flagstaff, Winslow, Payson, Kayenta, Chinle, St. Johns, Show Low and Safford, served by Pinnacle West Capital (PNW) unit Arizona Public Service Company and UNS Energy subsidiary UniSource Energy Services.

Affected areas in Colorado included Craig, Rangely, Meeker, Vail, Rifle, Aspen, Grand Junction, Nucla, Montrose, Gunnison, Telluride, Lake City, Durango, Cortez, Pagosa Springs, Canon City, Pueblo, and La Veta Pass. Xcel Energy and Black Hills (BKH) unit Black Hills Energy are the primary electricity providers in the state.

Areas placed under a red flag warning in Utah included: Vernal, Duchesne, Price, Nephi, Delta, Manti, Richfield, Milford, Green River, Moab, Capitol Reef National Park, Monticello, Blanding, Bluff, St. George, Zion National Park, Escalante, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Cedar City. The state primarily falls under the service area of PacifiCorp's Pacific Power.

In Nevada, a red flag warning was raised for Las Vegas, Beatty, Caliente, Tonopah, Montello, Wells, Austin, Eureka, and Ely, where Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary NV Energy is the major electric utility service provider.

Meanwhile, a flash flood warning was raised for Missouri's Nevada and Osage Beach, while a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for areas near Springfield. A flood warning was raised Jefferson City, Columbia, Mexico, Washington, Sedalia, St Joseph, Leavenworth, Chillicothe, Boonville, and Carrollton. Evergy, Ameren's (AEE) Missouri unit, and Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) subsidiary Liberty are the major service providers in Missouri.

A flash flood warning was also raised for Iola and nearby areas in Kansas, where Evergy (EVRG) is among the major service providers.

Alabama's Huntsville, which falls under the service area of Southern Company unit (SO) Alabama Power, was placed under a flood warning watch.

The NWS also issued flood warnings for small pockets of Nebraska, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Washington, and Louisiana.

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