Austin, Texas – A blast of dry air behind a cold front will drive humidity down to 12 percent by midday Thursday, creating explosive fire conditions across western portions of South Central Texas through early evening.
According to the National Weather Service in Austin/San Antonio, a Red Flag Warning remains in effect from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST Thursday for the Rio Grande Plains, Edwards Plateau and Hill Country. North winds will increase to 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph as temperatures climb to 95 degrees.
Counties under the warning include Llano, Burnet, Kerr, Gillespie, Kendall, Blanco, Bandera, Real, Edwards, Val Verde, Kinney, Uvalde, Medina, Maverick, Zavala, Frio and Dimmit. Communities such as Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Uvalde and Del Rio face the highest wildfire risk during peak heating hours.
Any spark could ignite fast-moving grass fires under these conditions. Outdoor burning is strongly discouraged. Residents should secure trailer chains, avoid parking on dry vegetation and delay welding or other spark-producing activities.
Critical fire weather conditions will ease after 7 p.m. as temperatures fall and humidity slowly recovers, but fire officials warn that dry fuels may keep wildfire risk elevated into Friday.
