Fire weather watch: Crush those smokes!
When this cold front blows through tonight it will bring strong winds. And as the air rolls across the mountains and down the east slopes tomorrow, it will warm up and dry out. That's the recipe for wildfires, so the National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch for Central Maryland, in effect all day Thursday.
Here's how they put it in this afternoon's discussion:
"POSTED A FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR DC...MD EXCLUDING
ALLEGANY AND HARFORD COUNTIES...AND MUCH OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, WV PANHANDLE
... ONCE THE COLD FRONT MOVES THRU THE REGION
TONIGHT...STRONG NW FLOW DOWNSLOPING WINDS FROM THE MTS WILL BRING
DRY AIR INTO THE REGION. WITH VERY STRONG WINDS 20 MPH OR GREATER
AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES APPROACHING 30 PERCENT DURING THE DAY FRIDAY...FIRE
POTENTIAL WILL BE HIGH DESPITE RELATIVELY MODEST FUEL MOISTURE
VALUES. FUTURE SHIFTS WILL DECIDE ON UPGRADING TO RED FLAG
WARNINGS TOMORROW IF CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO WARRANT."
OR OCCURRING. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH OR GUSTS
OF 58 MPH OR MORE CAN LEAD TO PROPERTY DAMAGE."
COMMON...WITH SOME GUSTS UP TO 55 MPH POSSIBLE.
"A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT WINDS GUSTS AROUND 50 MPH ARE
EXPECTED. WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT...ESPECIALLY
FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION."
