No Relief In Sight With The Very Dry Conditions & The Very High To Extremely High Fire Danger Across Western & Central Mass

For Tonight: Clear skies and light winds will lead to an even colder night tonight compared to last night. Low temperatures will be between 22 and 27 Degrees.

Monday: More clouds than sunshine can be expected throughout Monday as a southeasterly wind flow sets up across the area. High temperatures will be near 50 Degrees. Winds will be East to Southeast at 5 to 10 mph.

Extreme Fire Danger Expected From Tuesday Through Wednesday: Another round of extreme fire danger is expected throughout the period from Tuesday right through Wednesday. In fact, the extreme danger of brush fires is also likely throughout the nighttime hours on Tuesday night due to the gusty winds that are expected.

Those of you reading this that are in an incident command position for a local fire department or emergency management and need weather support to help you work these brush fires, feel free to contact me at contact@route20weather.com

The towns who are clients of ours not only receive specific forecasts to help with brush fire suppression, but also receive specific forecasts to help with decision making for snow removal and road treatment, high winds, severe thunderstorms & flooding.

Again, if you are interested in becoming a client of ours, send me a quick e-mail at contact@route20weather.com .

Because of the expected EXTREME Fire Danger from Tuesday through Wednesday, I strongly advise you to NOT do any of these activities that would potentially lead to a fast moving and fast spreading brush fire:

- Burning of brush piles.

- Having any sort of a campfire.

- Starting a fire in your fire pit.

- Using power tools of any sort in high grass or in dry leaves.

- Idling your vehicle in tall grass or on dry leaves.

- Improperly discarding cigarettes.

- Dumping ash in leaves or in high grass.

Tuesday will be partly sunny with high temperatures of 65 to 70 Degrees. Winds will be Southwest at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.

Tuesday night is expected to be partly cloudy with low temperatures between 50 and 55 Degrees. Winds will be Southwest at 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 to 40 mph.

Wednesday looks partly sunny with high temperatures between 70 and 75 Degrees. Winds will be Southwest at 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 40 mph in the morning and West to Northwest at 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 40 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday & Friday: Lots of sunshine is expected for both Thursday and Friday. High temperatures Thursday will be near 60 Degrees. High temperatures Friday will be near 55 Degrees.

As for the brush fire danger – It looks to continue to be very high for Thursday with the possibility for extreme fire danger conditions on Friday due to another round of gusty west winds.

EXTREMELY HIGH Fire Danger For Friday Across Western & Central Mass

I am EXTREMELY concerned about the potential for extremely high brush fire danger values during the day on Friday. These extremely high brush fire danger values on Friday are due to the combination of very gusty west to northwest winds, partly sunny skies by afternoon, high temperatures of 70 to 75 Degrees, relative humidity values of 30 to 35 percent and very dry ground conditions.

In fact, the National Weather Service has just issued a RED FLAG FIRE WARNING for all day Friday across the entire area due to the expected extremely high fire danger values.

I strongly advise you to NOT do any of these activities that would potentially lead to a fast moving and fast spreading brush fire:

- Burning of brush piles.

- Having any sort of a campfire.

- Starting a fire in your fire pit.

- Outdoor grilling with charcoal or propane.

- Using power tools of any sort in high grass or in dry leaves.

- Idling your vehicle in tall grass or on dry leaves.

- Improperly discarding cigarettes.

- Dumping ash in leaves or in high grass.

The actual weather forecast for Friday is as follows:

Cloudy skies to start with in the morning, then skies become partly sunny by late morning. Partly sunny skies are then expected during the afternoon. High temperatures will be between 70 and 75 Degrees. Winds will be West to Northwest at 15 to 25 mph with gusts of up to 40 mph.

Very, Very High Brush Fire Danger Expected Throughout This Week Across Western & Central Mass

I cannot emphasize enough how seriously the brush fire danger is right now across Western and Central Mass.

There were numerous brush fires that occurred over the weekend across the area, including but not limited to a couple of brush fires in Brimfield, one in Sturbridge and one in Rutland. In fact, a new brush fire is now happening right now in Barre.

The brush fire danger today is expected to be very, very high across the entire area due to a combination of lots of sunshine, very dry ground conditions and low humidity values.

My recommendation to you is to avoid any activities that could lead to a quickly moving and quickly spreading brush fire or wildfire. These include having bonfires or lighting fires in your firepits, using chainsaws or power tools in high grass or in dry leaves, idling your vehicle in tall grass or on dry leaves, improperly discarding cigarettes and dumping ash in leaves or high grass.

How dry are the conditions right now? A vehicle accident last night in Sturbridge knocked down some power lines igniting a fast moving brush fire. Fortunately, that brush fire was put out quickly by Sturbridge Fire, but just some sparks from live power lines caused a pretty significant brush fire.

Finally, these very high brush fire danger values are expected to continue throughout this week across the entire area and unfortunately, there is no significant rainfall in the forecast for at least the next week.