Red Flag Warning Issued for Connecticut

Normally, this is the wettest time of the year across southwestern Connecticut. However, it has been extremely dry over the last two weeks. Just two of the last 12 days have featured measured rain, amounting to less than a quarter-inch (0.17"). Today will be another dry and windy day. As a result, a Red Flag Warning has been issued for all of Connecticut from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today.

A Red Flag Warning alerts area firefighters and land management agencies that conditions are ideal for wildland fire ignition. The warning becomes a critical statement for firefighting agencies, which often alter their staffing and equipment resources dramatically to accommodate the forecast risk. To the public, a Red Flag Warning means high fire danger with increased probability of a quickly spreading vegetation fire in the area within 24 hours.

In addition to the dry ground, a Northwest wind will continue to gust between 20 and 30 miles an hour through this afternoon, along with extremely low humidity levels. Dew points are only in the upper single digits and lower teens this morning, while the relative humidity is less than 40 percent. These ingredients could result in the rapid spread of a brush fire if one were to start. Also, air temperatures will continue to run about 10 degrees below normal for this time of the year.

You can do your part to help prevent fires during extremely dry conditions. Obviously, always put out cigarettes properly and don't jusy discard them on the ground. That's the easiest way for a fire to start. Keep firewood away from your home, clean up weeds and grass clippings, and pick up any extra trash and debris which may be in your yard. Remember, it only takes a carelessly disposed cigarette to ignite a wild fire, and it could spread rapidly with the dry and windy conditions.

A few showers are possible Friday morning, but there are no major storms in the seven-day forecast. A series of weak disturbances will bring more clouds Sunday through the middle of next week, but only a few showers are expected by Tuesday. Daytime highs will rebound nicely into the 50s by the end of the weekend and into the 60s by the middle of next week.

Paul