TYLER, Texas — The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Red Flag Warning for the East Texas through Wednesday evening.
But, do you know what that means?
According to the NWS, a Red Flag Warning indicates "critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly."
The NWS says a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.
In order to issue a Red Flag Warning, the NWS says they need the following:
- Ten-hour fuels of 8% or less. This parameter describes how much water is held by small vegetation such as grass, leaves, and mulch that take only about 10 hours to respond to changes in dry/wet conditions.
- Relative humidity (RH) less than 25% for several hours. RH depicts how much water is in the air, relative to the temperature of the air.
- Winds 20' off the ground of at least 15 MPH for several hours.
Officials say the following factors led to the warning being issued:
- Southeast to east winds near 10-15 MPH with occasional higher gusts
- Humidity as low as 20-25%
- Temperatures from 103-107 degrees
The Red Flag Warning will be in effect until 8 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 23.
When under a Red Flag Warning, conditions are right for wildfires to spread rapidly and any outdoor burning is strongly discouraged. A majority of East Texas counties are under a burn ban at this time -- which makes outdoor burning temporarily unlawful.
Below is a list of area counties with burn bans:
- Anderson County
- Angelina County
- Bowie County
- Cass County
- Cherokee County
- Gregg County
- Harrison County
- Henderson County
- Houston County
- Marion County
- Morris County
- Nacogdoches County
- Panola County
- Polk County
- Rains County
- Rusk County
- Sabine County
- San Augustine County
- Shelby County
- Smith County
- Trinity County
- Upshur County
- Van Zandt County
Red Flag Warnings are usually only issued during spring and fall fire weather seasons (Feb. 15 - Apr. 30 and Oct. 1 - Dec. 15), according to the NWS.
RELATED: Enhanced fire danger in East Texas
