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| Today's fire danger is rated as "very high" across most of Vermont and "high" in the Champlain Valley and far northern parts of the state. |
A rare red flag warning for fire danger is in effect today for the southern Vermont. It covers Bennington and Windham County, and everything east of Route 7 as far north as Middlebury.
This part of the state should see the gustiest winds and some of the lowest humidities today, which prompted the warning.
The National Weather Service in South Burlington says this is the first autumn red flag warning in Vermont in at least 18 years.
The rest of Vermont is not off the hook today. While the weather and drought conditions in the northern and western parts of the state don't quite meet the criteria for that red flag warning, conditions there will still be pretty ripe for any fire starts. And those fires can spread quickly.
WHY TODAY?
It's just as dry today as it was yesterday, so why the added concern?
The answer is wind.
Thursday featured almost no wind that could spread fires easily.
Today, a storm in the Canadian Maritimes is hooking westward, a little closer to us. It won't get nearly close enough to set off any precipitation in Vermont. But it will be bumping up against high pressure to our west.
That will sort of "squeeze" the air, causing a pretty stiff north wind to get going. The strongest winds, possibly gusting as high as 30 mph, are forecast in the red flag warning zone. That coincides with the part of Vermont that is driest, and deepest in drought.
Tomorrow probably won't be much better. The humidity in the air will increase a little, which could help a bit. But gusts will probably be as strong as today, if not a little more hefty.
WHAT TO DO
Obviously, if you've been meaning to burn that pile of brush in the back 40, don't do it. Most places aren't issuing burn permits anyway.
As for you slobs that flick cigarette butts out your car windows, Stop it! That's one very easy way to set a brush or forest fire. You shouldn't be doing that anyway even if's been raining continuously for a month, as you're littering.
I'd avoid those outdoor fire pits. Embers from that could land in a nearby field or forest and set a fire. No campfires, either, please.
Here's another tip that I hadn't thought of until recently. If you're doing some last minute clean up with your lawn mower, remember this: Unlike previous autumns when the leaves and grass were relatively wet, this year they're bone dry.
The hot components of a lawn mower and other landscaping equipment can start fires under these conditions. There have been several brush fires in New Hampshire in recent weeks started by lawnmowers, WMUR reports.
Also those weed whackers can hit a rock, create a spark and off you go to the races with a fire.
THE NORTHEAST
It's not just Vermont.
The red flag warnings today extend across the southern half of New Hampshire and all of southern New England. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center says there's an elevated fire danger today from New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania northeastward all the way to southwest Maine.
A similar region has an elevated fire risk Saturday.
A weak cold front Monday might - if we're lucky - produce isolated very light rain showers in a couple spots in Vermont and New England, but don't count on it. The next chance of any relief is late next week, when signs point to a possible rain storm.
But we've been to this rodeo before. A few times this autumn, it would sometimes seem we're teed up for a rainstorm a few days out, only for everything to fall apart before the event actually got here.
I'll believe the rain or snow when I see it.
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