Bone-dry winds tore across parts of Texas and New Mexicocucapg, kicking up dust storms and causing dangerous driving conditions, as forecasters said the risk of fires breaking out in the parched region would persist into Thursday.

A red flag warning, indicating a high risk that fires could start or spread, was in place for parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois until Thursday.

Wind gusts of over 60 miles per hour were forecast for northwestern Texas as well as the Texas Panhandle overnight, according to the Weather Service, with the potential for new fires and continued dust storms. The wind direction was expected to shift in some areas tonight in the southern Plains, which could create challenges for firefighters.

Damaging winds were also expected to pick up in Oklahoma and West Kansas.

The Weather Service’s bureau in Norman, Okla., said on social media that strong winds would continue for much of the day on Wednesday. It had warned on Tuesday night of “extremely hazardous” travel because of low visibility, especially in southwest Oklahoma.

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Blowing dust reduced visibility to near zero around Lubbock, Texas, as it moved into southwestern Oklahoma on Tuesday night, the National Weather Service said. Parts of the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma were under blowing dust warnings until early Wednesday.

Severe dust storms also hit New Mexico, where the authorities had urged people to avoid driving on Tuesday. Poor visibility led to dangerous driving conditions and some road closures, according to New Mexico’s Transportation Department.

Winds were diminishing on Wednesday but patchy blowing dust was still possible in the eastern part of the state, the Weather Service said.

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Severe weather and crashes led to the closure of a stretch of Highway 54, in the village of Ruidoso, N.M., about 65 miles west of Roswell, according to the authorities.

On Tuesday night, the severe weather conditions knocked out power to

On Wednesday, about 40,000 customers in Texas were without power after severe weather conditions knocked out service, according to PowerOutage.us, a tracking website.

Critical fire conditions were expected to return to the eastern part of New Mexico on Thursday, the Weather Service said.

In Texas, a fire near Borger in Hutchinson County broke out on Tuesday evening and by Wednesday it had spread to 500 acres, after wind gusts had reached 70 miles per hour, city authorities said in a statement on Wednesday. It was about 50 percent contained. Power was out for much of the city, which has a population of more than 12,000, on Wednesday, the statement said.

Another fire in a largely agricultural area in northern Dallam County more than doubled, to about 18,000 acres, and was 50 percent contained by Wednesday, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. The authorities in the area shut down roads because of low visibility from blowing dust and wildfire smoke.

Christine Hauser contributed reporting.cucapg