STORM2K

http://www.storm2k.org/Weather-Central/ ... entral.htm

Am I reading that map right?

Hmmm, that does look a bit odd to see all of those fire advisories in the southeast. Is that a glitch?

Good question.

I don't think it's a glitch...

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/default.html

I can't say I've ever seen that before. Must be really dry and windy for the NWS to issue those.

No, it's not a glitch:

Fire Weather Advisory

Expires 9:00 PM EST on November 13, 2003

Statement as of 8:38 am EST on November 13, 2003

...Fire Weather Watch Continues In Effect Today...

This watch includes the following counties:

In north carolina: Alamance Anson Chatham Cumberland Davidson Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Granville Guilford Halifax Harnett Hoke Johnston Lee Montgomery Moore Nash Orange Person Randolph Richmond Sampson Scotland Stanly Vance Wake Warren Wayne Wilson

Synopsis:

A strong cold front moved across central North Carolina last night. Cold and very dry air is filtering in behind the front along with strong northwest winds. The sustained surface winds will range betweem 15 and 25 mph with gusts to 35 to 40 mph. In addition... dewpoints have already dropped into the single digits over the western sections of central North Carolina... thus this will make for afternoon relative humidities in the 10 to 15 percent range. Over the central and eastern sections... humidities will range between 15 to 25 percent.

A Fire Weather Watch is issued when adverse fire conditions are possible.

This Fire Weather Watch should be passed on to all field personnel.

Additional information or updates concerning fire danger can be found at the following web address:

http://Www.Dfr.State.NC.US

Well the dewpoint dropped here from 18 earlier, to 10 now! Definitely some cold dry air working it's way down. Also, if there was a fire, there would be plenty of fuel with all of the dry leaves blowing around!

Yes indeed, temperatures in the mid 50's with dewpoints in the teens and even lower warrants a "Fire Watch", as GAStorm indicated.

Temperature in the low to mid 80's with dewpoints in the mid 60's about 45 minutes ago in Leesburg, Florida.

Fire weather advisories (sometimes called "Red Flag Alerts" and "Red Flag Warnings" are issued when

Red Flag Alert - Conditions are favorable for the spread of wildfires. No ban is imposed on outdoor burning but people are strongly advised against it since high winds and low humidities can cause the spread of fires.

Red Flag Warnings - Condition are very favorable for the spread of wildfires and outdoor burning is banned ...

SPC outlook earlier today ...
PRIMARY CONDITIONS: DRY COLD FRONT WITH STRONG WINDS / LOW RH VALUES
/ BELOW AVERAGE 1 AND 2 WEEK PRECIPITATION

A STRONG BUT DRY COLD FRONT CROSSING THE CENTRAL AND SRN APPALACHIAN
MTNS EARLY THIS MORNING WILL SWEEP RAPIDLY SEWD OFF THE SERN COAST
AND NRN GULF COAST BY 18Z TODAY. STRONG LOW-LEVEL ADVECTION OF
COOLER AND MUCH DRIER AIR INTO THE REGION...WITH STEEP NEAR SURFACE
LAPSE RATES AND NWLY GRADIENT WINDS OF 25-35 MPH WITH HIGHER
GUSTS...WILL RESULT IN RH VALUES GENERALLY BETWEEN 20-30 PERCENT
DURING MOST OF THE AFTERNOON. THE LOWEST RH VALUES WILL LIKELY BE
FOUND FROM CENTRAL GA NEWD ACROSS THE PIEDMONT OF NC AND SC WHERE
DOWNSLOPE EFFECTS WILL BE GREATEST. SURFACE DEWPOINTS MAY FALL INTO
THE TEENS BY MID AFTERNOON IN SOME LOCATIONS ACROSS THIS
AREA...RESULTING IN A FEW RH READINGS AS LOW AS 15 PERCENT.

CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER EPISODE SHOULD END AFTER SUNSET AS WINDS
SUBSIDE AND TEMPERATURES FALL INTO THE 30S FOR OVERNIGHT LOWS. FIRE
MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ACROSS THE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER AREA
SHOULD BE AWARE OF CONSIDERABLE IMPACT OF STRONG WINDS AND ABRUPT
DRYING /BOUNDARY LAYER RH DOWN 40-50 PERCENT COMPARED TO YESTERDAY/
ON FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS. REFER TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WFO
FIRE WEATHER FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS FOR ADDITIONAL LOCAL
INFORMATION.

..BANACOS.. 11/13/2003

Here's an example product from Wakefield, VA

RED FLAG WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
720 AM EDT THU APR 6 2000

...A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT TODAY FOR ALL OF
CENTRAL AND EASTERN VIRGINIA...

SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL BECOME MODERATE AND GUSTY TODAY...
AVERAGING BETWEEN 20 AND 30 MPH BY MIDDAY AND EARLY
AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION...RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL DROP TO
25 TO 30 PERCENT BY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.

FINE FUEL MOISTURES...REPORTED BY VIRGINIA FOREST SERVICE
OFFICIALS...ARE EXPECTED TO BE LOW TODAY. THE COMBINATION
OF LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES AND GUSTY WINDS WARRANTS THIS
RED FLAG WARNING.

PLEASE ADVISE FIRE CREWS IN THE FIELD OF THE ISSUANCE OF
THIS RED FLAG WARNING.