Full Notification

Dead brush and leaf litter, which can serve as fuels for wildfires, have steadily dried out over the past few days given a lack of rainfall and persistent warm, dry air over the region. Breezy winds will return again this afternoon and evening but will be lighter compared to what we saw yesterday. Relative humidity values will dip to 25% or less for much of the area this afternoon. The combination of dry fuels and gusty winds will lead to an increased danger of wildfires across western North Carolina. Please refer to your local burn permitting authorities on whether you can burn today. If you do burn, use extreme caution since fires can quickly get out of hand under these conditions.

* AFFECTED AREAS: AVERY ... ALEXANDER ... IREDELL ... DAVIE ... MADISON ... YANCEY ... MITCHELL ... SWAIN ... HAYWOOD ... BUNCOMBE ... CATAWBA ... ROWAN ... GRAHAM ... NORTHERN JACKSON ... MACON ... SOUTHERN JACKSON ... TRANSYLVANIA ... HENDERSON ... CLEVELAND ... LINCOLN ... GASTON ... MECKLENBURG ... CABARRUS ... UNION ... CALDWELL MOUNTAINS ... GREATER CALDWELL ... BURKE MOUNTAINS ... GREATER BURKE ... MCDOWELL MOUNTAINS ... EASTERN MCDOWELL ... RUTHERFORD MOUNTAINS ... GREATER RUTHERFORD ... POLK MOUNTAINS ... EASTERN POLK