Hurricane Ian pushes north winds and low humidity into much of the Southeast

Fire weather outlook Sept. 28, 2022
Fire weather outlook Sept. 28, 2022. NOAA Storm Prediction Center.

The counter-clockwise rotation of winds around Hurricane Ian has brought north winds and low humidity to portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the panhandle of Florida. The combination of a strong surface high to the north and the strong pressure gradient around the hurricane will drive moderately strong northerly winds across much of the Southeast on Wednesday.

The forecast is for humidity in the teens and 20s with wind gusts of 20 to 35 mph Wednesday afternoon.

Wind forecast for 2 p.m. CDT Sept. 28, 2022
Wind forecast for 2 p.m. CDT Sept. 28, 2022. Windy.com. The colors represent wind speed in knots. See legend at lower-right. 

In the wind forecast above for 2 p.m. CDT Wednesday, Hurricane Ian is predicted to make landfall near Cape Coral, Florida.

The National Weather Service’s Red Flag Warning map was a little more conservative than the Storm Prediction Center’s designations of elevated and critical fire weather.

Red Flag Warnings
Red Flag Warnings at 8:45 a.m. Sept. 28, 2022. NWS.

The Storm Prediction Center’s forecast for Thursday is for elevated fire weather only in southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

3 thoughts on “Hurricane Ian pushes north winds and low humidity into much of the Southeast”

  1. Maybe common sense would dictate holding off on ANY RX burns no matter the USFS targets are, until the WX is known in the next 24 hours…cuz like aviation, when one isn’t paying attention to the WX…itreal easy to get in over ones head as evidenced on NM Spring of 22!

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    1. Hi Wally, I appreciate your wisdom probably based upon experience. Bill, storm equals high winds and nothing else. Except some localized ‘claimates’ normally have ‘normal’ winds which in other climates would be considered to be storms. Both maps, wildfire danger and weather, have common locations. I focus attention on two quite different locations and their quite different climates. The corner of OR, ID, NV and New Orleans. And I ask: Do we really under the cause of WIND? I am sure many may explain that we do. But I still doubt.

      Have a good day, Jerry

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