Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Warm winds spark extreme fire threat from Arizona to Kansas

By Renee Duff, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist
March 23,2016; 10:35PM,EDT
 
 
An elevated fire risk will threaten a portion of the southwestern and south-central United States on Wednesday.
"The combination of high winds, extremely low humidity and plenty of warmth will create an extreme fire threat from eastern Arizona to western Texas and central Kansas," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Zapolski said.

Cities under the elevated fire threat include Tucson, Arizona; Roswell, New Mexico; Wichita, Kansas; and Amarillo, Lubbock and El Paso, Texas.
"Winds could gusts as high as 60 mph in these areas," Zapolski added.
Improperly discarded matches or cigarettes could easily spark a fire due to the dry undergrowth and extremely dry air.
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Any fires that ignite could rapidly spread due to the high winds. Even if there is not a fire nearby, haze and smoke can be carried hundreds of miles away.
Once the storm that is generating these high winds shifts farther north and east, cooler air and calmer winds will move into the region on Thursday, lowering the fire risk through the end of the week.

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