Strong gusty winds, low humidity create dangerous fire conditions in Kansas City
A red flag warning has been issued for much of the Kansas City region on Monday as strong gusty winds and low humidity are expected create conditions where any fires could spread rapidly, according to FOX4 meteorologist Alex Countee.
“Wind gust will continue to be an issue as we move throughout this morning — we’ll see them grow to possibly 40, even 50 mph,” said Countee, who provides weather updates to The Star.
Areas west and north of the metro area have the best chances for seeing the higher wind gusts. Some gusts could peak at 55 mph. Wind advisories have been issued area wide until 9 p.m. Monday, he said.
“So even after the sun goes down, it’ll still be pretty breezy here in the area,” Countee said. “With the low humidity and the drier ground over the last couple of days, there’s a slight fire concern as well. So we do have red flag warnings for the very similar areas under the wind advisory throughout the day.”
Afternoon highs are expected to reach 74 degrees and there should be plenty of sunshine, he said. The wind, however, will be a nuisance throughout the entire day with some wind gusts still reaching 40 to 50 mph by 10 p.m. in a few isolated spots.
A cold front will make the 70-degree weather short. The front moves through Tuesday and into Wednesday, limiting high temperatures to the mid-50s, according to Countee’s forecast.
“But opening day forecast for the Royals on Thursday: Still looking good, sunshine, in the 60s by first pitch,” Countee said.
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The Star produced this weather update in partnership with the local FOX4 television station. The station’s meteorologists create forecast videos multiple times a day for the newspaper to include in its weather reports.
