Hot and dry conditions are helping fuel fast-moving wildfires blazing throughout the West.
As of Wednesday afternoon there were 43 large fires burning in 12 states throughout the country: Alaska, Washington, California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Florida.
In Utah and Colorado, winds could reach 40 mph Wednesday afternoon and evening, and coupled with the dry fuel and low humidity, the danger for fire is heightened.
Randy Black, deputy chief of Durango Fire Protection District, and Mike Tombolato, a Rocky Mountain Type One Team member, look over as a fire burns around homes south of County Road 202 during a burnout operation, a technique used to consume fuel from a growing wildfire, near Durango, Colo., June 11, 2018.
Jerry McBride /The Durango Herald via AP
Fire burns around homes south of County Road 202 during a burnout operation, a technique used to consume fuel from wildfires, near Durango, Colo., June 11, 2018.
Jerry McBride /The Durango Herald via AP
Smoke from the Badger Creek Fire can be seen from a field off of Highway 230 near Woods Landing, Wyo., June 11, 2018.
Shannon Broderick/Laramie Boomerang via AP
Firefighters monitor flames behind a home during a burnout operation that was performed south of County Road 202 near Durango, Colo., June 11, 2018. The burnout is used to take away fuel from wildfires. Firefighters use the technique to burn in conditions so that they can control the fire and prevent the loss of homes.
Jerry McBride /The Durango Herald via AP
The dangerous fires have prompted some evacuations from southern California to Colorado.
In Colorado, massive wildfires displaced thousands of people and destroyed tens of thousands of acres, while in Beverly Hills some residents were forced to flee their homes Tuesday as flames erupted and threatened million dollar mansions.
The 416 fire burns down Hermosa Cliffs above U.S. Highway 550 on the southeast side of the fire near Hermosa, Colo., June 6, 2018.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald via AP
A large plume of smoke rises over Benedict Canyon in Los Angeles in the hills surrounded by Beverly Hills, Calif., June 12, 2018. More than 100 firefighters raced to the hills overlooking Los Angeles to battle a blaze that ignited in thick brush surrounded by large, expensive homes.
Bonnie Vogel via AP
Firefighters clear burned and unburned brush from a hillside above Portola Drive after a wildfire broke out in the Benedict Canyon area of Los Angeles, June 12, 2018.
Reed Saxon/AP
Excessive Heat Warnings and Red Flag Warnings remain in effect Wednesday for five states in the Southwest: Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and Colorado.
Hot and dry conditions are expected in the Southwest as it deals with wildfires.
ABC News
Temperatures will remain dangerously hot yet for cities like Palm Springs, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, where temperatures could reach 110 degrees.
Temperatures will be well above 100 degrees in Arizona and much of California on Wednesday.
Bud, which began as a hurricane, weakened to a tropical storm Wednesday morning, and continues to weaken.
On Wednesday afternoon, the storm was churning up 50 mph winds about 215 miles from Cabo San Lucas.
An ABC News weather map shows hot and dry weather predicted for the Southwestern U.S.
ABC News
Bud is expected to continue weakening as it approaches Cabo San Lucas on Thursday. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect there for gusty winds, heavy rain, flash flooding and dangerous surf.
The storm is forecast to fall apart on Friday, but it will bring some rain to the Southwest states by the weekend -- surely to be a welcome relief from the heat and fires.
Smoke from the Badger Creek Fire drifts through the air, June 11, 2018, as seen from Highway 10, near Woods Landing, Wyo.
