Kansas City under risk of high wildfire danger; outdoor burning discouraged

It would be a bad idea to do any outdoor burning Thursday in the Kansas City area, according to the National Weather Service.

The agency has issued a “Red Flag Warning” for the east-central Kansas and west-central Missouri, which includes the Kansas City metropolitan area. The warning is in effect from noon to 5 p.m.

The warning means there’s a high wildfire danger and conditions favor fires spreading rapidly because of the low humidity, dry vegetation and strong winds.

There were several grass fires overnight and any additional fires likely will spread quickly. Winds in the Kansas City area are expected to be 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph.

Winds are expected to gradually diminish through the afternoon hours. Wind speeds are expected to be 10 to 15 mph near sunset, which is shortly after 5 p.m.

Thursday’s high is expected to be about 60 degrees. Humidity is expected to be between 20 and 30 percent.

This is the second day for strong winds in the Kansas City area. Strong and damaging winds blew through as thunderstorms and a cold front moved through the area Wednesday.

Gusts measured between 40 and 65 mph, including 62 mph winds at Lee’s Summit Municipal Airport. Winds reached 71 mph near De Witt, Mo.

Power outages at Park University prompted it to cancel morning classes at its Parkville campus.

Meanwhile there were sporadic power outages across the Kansas City area Thursday. Shortly before 10 a.m., Kansas City Power and Light was reporting that about 1,000 customers were without power; the Kansas City, Kan., Board of Public Utilities had 141 customers without power, and Independence Power & Light had six customers without power.

Here’s a look at some of the reported top wind speeds from Wednesday:

Mobile users can view the map by pressing here.

By the way, Jimmy Kimmel recently talked about how the media reacts to wind in Los Angeles.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 9:39 AM with the headline "Kansas City under risk of high wildfire danger; outdoor burning discouraged."