Weather Service warns of ‘fire weather’

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The National Weather Service is warning that high winds and low humidity today will increase the danger of fire and is advising against open burning. The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation Fire Danger Forecast map shows “high” fire danger for all of the state and “very high” in the southern part of the state. The Weather Service’s warning is below:

Elevated Fire Weather Concerns Today…

A significantly dry airmass will become established across Vermont and northern New York today with minimum relative humidity values dropping into the 20-25% range by mid-day.

Dewpoints are expected to be in the teens to low 20s and high temperatures in the low to mid 60s with clouds increasing this afternoon. Strong wind gusts are expected to materialize at the surface as well, the strongest being across northern New York and specifically the St. Lawrence Valley. Maximum wind gusts up to 60 mph are possible across the St. Lawrence Valley, with up to 45 mph over the Adirondacks and 35 mph across the state of Vermont. These gusts will primarily occur between noon and 7 p.m. today, with a second wave of strong westerly wind gusts possible later tonight, mainly along east-facing slopes of the south-central Green Mountains.

These conditions will allow fine fuels such as dead grass and leaf litter to dry out completely, and therefore, opening burning is not advised.