Large swaths of the Plains and Southeast face elevated to critical fire weather conditions, with more than 100 record or near record temperatures forecast over the weekend across the Southwest and southern United States, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) on Saturday. Meanwhile, there have been more than 100 monthly records broken or tied, and more than 700 daily records broken or tied from March 15 to 26, according to the NWS. Elevated and critical fire weather can accelerate the