As low humidity and gusty northeast winds will produce a high fire danger across interior portions of east central Florida today, Osceola County and much of Central Florida will be under a Red Flag Warning beginning at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions will be occurring. A combination of winds that could reach 25-30 mph , temperatures warming into the low to mid-80s and humidity levels around 30% could contribute to what the National Weather Service in Melbourne notes as, "extreme fire behavior."
"Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly. Outdoor burning is not recommended," the NWS noted Tuesday morning in the warning.
Osceola County and the city of St. Cloud have alternated between being in and out of an official burn ban since February, and while one is not in place currently, the county's Keetch-Byram Drought Index figure, which measures overall soil dryness and is a measuring stick for a burn ban, is increasing into the mid-400s (the ban goes into effect when it reaches 500).
The detailed KBDI report shows the highest index figures in the county are in the extreme southern portion, particularly west of Yeehaw Junction along State Road 60, where numbers exceed 600. The northwest portion of county that includes Kissimmee is the :"less dry" area (KBDI in the 300s), with index rising as you head east toward St. Cloud and Harmony before lowering again approaching Brevard County.
