Wildfire Still Threatening Los Alamos Nuclear Facility

The lab has announced that it will remain closed Wednesday.

Courtey: Pat Vasquez-Cunningham / The Albuquerque Journal / AP

(LOS ALAMOS, N.M. Accuweather) - AccuWeather.com reports the weather will remain troublesome for crews battling the wildfire threatening Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico over the next few days.

Although an increase in humidity early Tuesday morning has been a short-term benefit, a storm system passing by to the north will kick up daily rounds of gusty winds through Thursday.

Winds across the Southwest each day through Thursday will generally be sustained at 20 to 30 mph with gusts near or past 40 mph in some places. Wind direction will be out of the south to southwest in most areas.

Dry thunderstorms could also develop across northern and western New Mexico as well as eastern Arizona over the next few days, threatening to spark new wildfires.

Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski has more details on this threat and the possibility of much-needed rain heading into the region later in the week.

Details on the fire threatening Los Alamos

As of midday Tuesday, the Las Conchas fire was reportedly about a mile to the southwest of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the nation's premier national security research institutions that specializes in nuclear science.

Spot fires have developed ahead of the Las Conchas wildfire with one reported on the lab's property Monday. That spot fire has been contained.

The Las Conchas fire broke out Sunday afternoon and has since burned more than 60,000 acres and destroyed at least 30 structures. As of midday Tuesday it was still zero percent contained.

According to New Mexico Fire Information, all nuclear and hazardous materials were still accounted for and protected as of Tuesday.

The lab has announced that it will remain closed Wednesday.

Meghan Evans is a Meteorologist with AccuWeather.com