BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley is at an elevated risk for fire spread Thursday, with outdoor burning strongly discouraged.
The National Weather Service on Thursday morning issued a special weather statement, warning minimum relative humidity values would fall into the 30-40% range.
“These conditions, along with the continued drying of fine fuels, could support the rapid spread of any fires that ignite, which could quickly become difficult to control.”National Weather Service special statement
“This will be accompanied by cool and dry northwest winds of 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 20 to 30 mph,” the statement said.
“These conditions, along with the continued drying of fine fuels, could support the rapid spread of any fires that ignite, which could quickly become difficult to control.”
Forecasters said relative humidities would begin to increase late in the afternoon, with winds expected to decrease toward sunset.
Regional forecasts warn of above-normal danger
The National Interagency Fire Center Outlook released Nov. 1 warns of above-normal wildfire danger across much of the region for the entire month.
It indicates a greater-than-usual likelihood that significant wildland fires will occur, the agency said.
The main objectives of the outlooks are to improve information available to fire management decision-makers, thus better protecting lives and property, reducing firefighting costs and improving firefighting efficiency.
The outlooks are updated on the first of each month or the first workday of each month, and the latest comes on a significant anniversary.
A brush fire erupted and raced across Blue Mountain Nov. 2, 2024. It occurred as the Lehigh Valley and several Pennsylvania counties were under a red flag warning indicating a high level of fire danger.
That blaze, known as the Gap Fire, was not marked officially extinguished until Dec. 3. It burned nearly 600 acres, quickly becoming the largest brush fire the area has seen in more than two decades.
Lehigh Valley in drought
The latest map released Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor showed the entirety of the Lehigh Valley in “moderate drought.”
The designation came despite widespread and heavy rainfall Oct. 30, when the area recorded nearly an inch and a half of rain.
“Dryness and drought continued to stretch across an historically unusual amount of the region,” the National Drought Summary said.
Some degree of dryness or drought covered more than 85% of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, down from 93.4% the prior week and the lowest since mid-September (81.1%).
A shot of cold air — the coldest of the season so far — should push through the area early next week, but outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center continue to favor below-average chances for meaningful precipitation.
