Parts of Northeast and Southwest bracing for elevated fire danger
Gusty winds, low humidity and dry conditions are expected to produce elevated fire danger in parts of the Southwest and Northeast on Tuesday following wildfires that erupted on New York's Long Island over the weekend and in the Carolinas last week.
Red flag alerts were already in effect Tuesday morning for West Texas and southern New Mexico, where wind gusts are forecast to reach 40 mph and relative humidity is expected to plummet to as low as 5%. Combined with critically dry conditions on the ground, forecasters are warning of the potential of fast-moving wildfires.
"Any fires that develop may rapidly increase in size and intensity, move quickly, and be very difficult to control," the National Weather Service office for Austin and San Antonio said in a forecast on Tuesday.
In the Northeast, elevated fire danger is forecast Tuesday for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and parts of southern New York. Winds gusts of up to 30 mph in the high-risk areas of the Northeast and the relative humidity is expected to fall to 30%.
Mild to above average temperatures are forecast to continue through this week across the eastern half of the country.
Daily record high temperatures are possible in Houston on Thursday and Friday. Temperatures are expected to get up to the mid-80s in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Memphis, Tennessee, is expected to reach the lower 80s on Friday.
The new fire danger warnings came even as firefighters continue to mop up from a series of brush fires that erupted on Saturday in New York's Long Island.
The fires in Suffolk County, Long Island, ignited on Saturday amid northwest wind gusts of up to 45 mph and extremely dry vegetation.
At least four different fires broke out in Suffolk County, officials said. The fires quickly spread embers from Manorville to Eastport and into the publicly protected Pine Barrens region of West Hampton, officials said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency and instituted a burn ban for Long Island, New York City and parts of the Hudson Valley.
The Long Island fires burned about 600 acres before officials reported Monday that the blazes were 100% contained. Two commercial structures were damaged in the fires. State and Army National Guard helicopters made water drops on the Long Island fires, which helped prevent the flames from reaching homes, officials said.
About 600 firefighters from more than 80 volunteer Suffolk County fire departments battled the blazes, officials said.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said Monday that the "operating theory" is that a fire was started at about 9:30 a.m. ET Saturday when a resident used cardboard to start a fire to make s'mores, a confection that includes toasted marshmallows and chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers.
The Long Island fires followed a rash of wildfires that ignited last week in South Carolina and North Carolina. Officials said 175 wildfires broke out near the border of both states, fueled by high winds and moderate drought conditions.
The fires in the Carolinas rapidly spread through the Carolina Forest in Horry County, South Carolina, burning over 2,000 acres and threatening the communities of Walkers Woods and Avalon, and reaching the edge of Myrtle Beach before being extinguished, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
