It is the time of year when some of the strongest winds are coming through the Midwest.
Weather has a large impact on prescribed burning and fire behavior. With pasture burning in full swing, the combination of warmer temperatures and low humidity can create extreme fire weather.
A meteorologist warns this year’s peak La Niña is increasing fire risks!
According to Chip Redmond, “Combined with those warmer temperatures and the low humidities is a recipe for extreme fire weather. And it had a lot of people out burning recently, and a bit of a reminder, if you do not have that fire out, you potentially could have a good cause— a significant fire that could go many, many miles and be impossible to control. We’ve got the peak La Niña and that’s typically in years with La Niña, we see the most acres burned in the state of Kansas any given spring. And so with this La Niña, we’re seeing the weather that correlates well with dry conditions, fire weather threats, and the potential drought expansion as well, because we’re going out multiple weeks in a row with very little precipitation.”
He adds that with these factors in play, landowners must remain cautious to avoid large-scale wildfires.
