March winds and fire
March is supposed to be windy, right? Trouble is, high winds, low humidity and a general scarcity of precipitation in recent weeks have boosted the wildfire hazard across the state.
State fire supervisor Monte Mitchell reports that state DNR firefighters are currently working two wildfires - one in Southern Maryland and another mop-up operation in Somerset County. "We've had a very busy month," Mitchell said, with Forest Service crews reponding to 160 fires already in March. That's more than 10 per day, and it doesn't count hundreds of smaller blazes handled by local fire fighters.
"We're certainly expecting some activity this afternoon" as temperatures rise and humidities drop," he said. "Hopefully people are heeding the Red Flag warnings." Wind-whipped fire has damaged or destroyed two restaurants in Solomons today. Click here for the story.
The National Weather Service has posted Red Flag warnings today from Massachusetts to North Carolina, including all of Maryland except Garrett County. Here's how ours reads:
"...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST THIS
AFTERNOON...
"SUSTAINED WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP
TO 50 MPH WILL DRY FUELS FURTHER TODAY. MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITY
ACROSS THE REGION WILL AVERAGE BETWEEN 20 TO 30 PERCENT THIS AFTERNOON.
DRY FUELS COMBINED WITH LOW HUMIDITY AND GUSTY WINDS WILL CREATE
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS FIRE CONDITIONS TODAY.
"A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND DRY FUELS WILL CREATE
EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL."
Blame a deep low-pressure system centered over the Gulf of Maine. The flow of air around the west side of the low is bringing strong winds our way from the north and west. A wind advisory is warning of sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph, with gusts to 50 mph.
The stiff wind is combining with below-normal temperatures to push the wind chill into the 30s. BWI had gusts to 40 mph this morning. The instruments on the Francis Scott Key Bridge recorded gusts to 36 knots (41 mph).
