This morning, the National Weather Service issued the following ‘Red Flag Warning’ for “IREDELL, DAVIE, CATAWBA, ROWAN, CLEVELAND, LINCOLN, GASTON, MECKLENBURG, CABARRUS, and UNION COUNTIES”
* Winds...Northwest 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. * Relative Humidity...As low as 25 percent. * FUEL MOISTURE...under 10 percent, and likely to drop further with little or no wetting rain expected through Wednesday. * IMPACTS...Outdoor fires may easily grow out of control in these conditions. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now....or will shortly. A combination of strong winds...low relative humidity...and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.
While wildfires are rare in North Carolina, they do occasionally occur.
Back in 2016, dozens of devastating fires erupted all across the North Carolina mountains and Piedmont after a similar dry spell.
This shot was just taken in 2016 by John Cayton of the Party Rock Fire on Lake Lure:
