Elevated Fire Risk In Effect For The Berkshires, Don’t Blow Off These Warnings
They promised us good weather this week. Well, "good weather" is subjective, right? I should say, for anyone like me, this week's forecast is awesome. FINALLY!
Monday's forecast is sunny and 66!
By Thursday, it'll be sunny and 82.
With that nice and sunny forecast comes dry air and gusty winds, however. With those gusty winds and dry air comes an "elevated fire risk" for The Berkshires.
A very dry airmass combined with gusty winds will result in elevated fire weather concerns today. Specifically, east/northeast winds will gust to 20 to 30 mph. Minimum relative humidities will drop to 15 to 25 percent in western CT and western MA this afternoon. -weather.com
I used to see these warnings and sort of blow 'em off, so to speak. I did have a small fire in my firepit for Mother's Day and saw firsthand yesterday's gusty winds take a lit paper bag and ignite some dry grass about 25 yards away.
We always have a nearby garden hose charged and ready to go, but that is beside the point. When it's dry and windy, fire can spread EASILY, hence the warning.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN MY NEIGHBOR LIT HER YARD ON FIRE AROUND THIS TIME LAST YEAR? THE FIRE DEPARTMENT HAD TO COME.
Open burning season in Massachusetts ended on May 1, just a reminder for anyone who was unaware.
For anyone with a "cooking" firepit, proceed with caution.