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Strong winds and record temperatures are causing weather concerns across the Midwest.
The deputy director of the Midwest Regional Climate Center said record temperatures and strong winds ahead of a cold front are increasing the risk of severe weather this week.
Melissa Widhelm said parts of the Plains and Midwest regions are 20 to 35 degrees warmer than average for this time of year, prompting a red flag warning to be issued Tuesday.
“The lack of precipitation that we’ve seen so far, combined with the very low humidity values, means there’s not a lot of moisture in the air, so it’s going to be windy,” she says. “People should therefore be particularly aware of the high fire risk as they are at significant risk of fire spread if ignited.”
She said brownfield drought conditions are intensifying.
“It really picked up steam in October,” she says. “We’re talking about record or near-record dryness starting this month and continuing into October.”
Widhelm said La Niña could cause weather changes this winter.
“We’re looking at conditions in the equatorial Pacific to see what impact that could have on increasing precipitation and keeping temperatures a little warmer than normal,” she says.
Widhelm said severe weather with above-average temperatures could continue throughout the week. Rain is expected Wednesday night, potentially easing the dry conditions and heightened fire danger.
Audio: Melissa Widhelm, Midwest Regional Climate Center
