Despite this week’s storms that produced rainfall in some parts of Oklahoma, the western part of the state is still in a Red Flag Warning region.
The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food & Forestry said the warning was in effect Thursday in western Oklahoma, a region that did not receive much rainfall this week. The return of southerly winds and dry air spreading over the state will increase fire dangers. The Forestry Division expected a “large fire potential” to increase Thursday in the west.
Firefighters expect calmer winds on Friday which will throttle back the fire spread potential. But they also point out that because of the strong drying conditions on Thursday, the extended burning period is again anticipated.
It appears conditions won’t improve much in the coming week, based on the Forestry Division’s outlook.
“Outlook: Dry conditions are expected to persist through the next 10 days or more continuing fire danger attention in the western half and areas of northern Oklahoma while south-central and southeastern counties will experience ongoing green-up. Large fire potential will remain a concern west while initial attack fires will come back online in the southeast quarter. Sunday will bring a cold front driving in much drier air and strong winds with potential for critical fire weather across the west and north-central regions of Oklahoma.”