Outdoor Burning Seriously Dangerous In Louisiana Right Now
Admittedly, the cooler temperatures forecast for this week are a welcome change from the sweltering heat we've endured the past few months, but they come with a catch.
To usher in the cooler temperatures, Mother Nature will crank up the wind and reduce the humidity, making for even more dangerous conditions for outdoor burning.
As the map above highlights, only Caddo Parish in Northwest Louisiana is presently under a "Burn Ban" which strictly prohibits any outdoor burning, but many neighboring East Texas and Southern Arkansas counties have followed suit, disallowing any outdoor burning.
In fact the National Weather Service in Shreveport points out a "Fire Weather Watch" has been issued for most of tomorrow, Wednesday, October 16, for many other Louisiana parishes, including some as far north as Vernon and Rapides.
A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur. With 15 to 20 mph winds and gusts up to 25 mph in tomorrow's forecast, the National Weather Service cautions that there is an "Extreme Grassland Fire Danger" and that any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. Outdoor burning is not recommended.
It's only logical that if Caddo Parish along with many other southern parishes and most of east Texas and southern Arkansas have determined conditions too dangerous for outdoor burning, the same dangers are likely in Bossier, Red River, DeSoto and Webster parishes.
Again, ONLY Caddo Parish has banned the burning at this time, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that any outdoor burning in other northwestern Louisiana parishes is probably not the smartest idea.
And considering the Weather Channel's 10-day forecast, with absolutely zero precipitation, it's likely these other parishes will follow suit with burn bans of their own in the coming days.
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