Heads Up Vermont: Fire Weather Watch In Effect Sunday Before Rains Hit

This is what you get in a drought. 

An autumn forest fire on Robbins Mountain near
Richmond, Vermont back in 2016.  Similar scenes
are possible tomorrow in Vermont amid dry 
conditions and gusty winds. A fire weather
watch is in effect on Sunday. 

Even if you do get a little rain, the fire risk is always present, until you soak things down enough to get the forests good and wet. 

Spoiler: Vermont's forests are nowhere near good and wet. 

And so it goes, the National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch for Vermont running through Sunday afternoon and evening. 

Warm temperatures, dry air, drought ground, lots of dead leaves and weeds on the ground and gusty winds will all combine to give us the risk of fast-spreading brush fires. 

During a drought like the one we're having, underground roots and fallen forest trees and branches also catch fire easily and burn hot. Normally, that stuff is too wet to burn much. But now it's not, so if a fire starts, it won't be just surface leaves and twigs. Chances are it'll be that bigger stuff, which is much harder to extinguish. 

Meanwhile, four days of dry, breezy weather has taken all the moisture out of those leaves that are falling from the trees and blowing around on the ground. Once those catch, you're off to the races. 

A fire weather watch means conditions for blazes are possible. The National Weather Service will take another look at the conditions early Sunday morning. If those expectations of dry, windy weather still look good, they'll issue a red flag warning. 

Red flag warnings mean there is a real threat of easy fire ignitions. And fires would spread rapidly. Especially since winds in many spots should gust to 30 or 35 mph. We might even have gusts higher than that in the Champlain Valley. 

All of Vermont is under a burn ban, so you can set your brush piles alight. I have a brush pile ready to go, but I'm waiting until there's a decent snow cover on the ground to set mine on fire. 

For gawd's sake, on Sunday,  be careful with sparks, and don't chuck your cigarette butt out of the truck or car window. 

There's all kinds of other weird precautions you wouldn't think of. Like don't park your car on or near tall, dry grass. The hot stuff under the car could set all that on fire. Lawn mower or metal weed whacker blades can also create a spark if they hit rocks. Maybe postpone that type of yard clean up until it's a little wetter. 

It still looks like some wonderful rain will enter the picture late Sunday night or Monday. The rain will be no drought buster, not even close. But at least it will tamp down the fire risk for awhile.