Has anyone else noticed the wind today? How could you not? Many of my officemates came in this morning looking very Flock of Seagulls after their short walk from the Metro. Along with the 80’s hair, the wind has also brought us some extreme fire weather and thus a Red Flag Warning from the National Weather Service. Fortunately, none of my coworkers were flaming as they walked in, though no one can really get a good read on the tech guy.
Ambiguous Dan aside, a Red Flag Warning is issued when the wind, heat, and fuel (trees, leaves, grass) conditions are ripe for large and fast-spreading wildfires. Not only has our area’s relatively dry winter left grass and brush parched and fire-ready, but the last few days’ constant wind has sucked the moisture from the dead leaves and grass, making them even easier to ignite. The wind also serves as a gigantic bellow to push any flames or embers into bigger and bigger fires.
You probably don’t think of the Washington area when you think of wildfires; the West and its massive conflagrations dominate that news. Even today, wildfire-related stories are focused on the panhandle of Texas, where swathes of land roughly equal in area to the state of Rhode Island continue to burn. However, there have been local fires as well: the Maryland Department of Natural Resources has extinguished 5,455 acres worth of blazing land this year, and Virginia has had 104 fires which burned more than 1,500 acres. These generally don’t make the news since individual fires are fairly small and don’t burn into the urban interface to threaten houses, but they’re certainly there.
D.C. itself doesn’t have a lot of fuel to feed these big fires, so not much is going to happen if you throw a match down in Dupont Cricle. But, folks in rural and forested areas in the region should be mindful that a stray cigarette or a burning trash heap could spell trouble for our woodland friends. Otherwise, get down to the Mall for a little kite flying fun. Heads up on the highways though, since these high winds wreak havoc with high profile semi trucks and RVs. Buelah and Wilfred are on the edge as it is, steer clear.
Smokey Bear photo from manamanah.
