Dry, windy weather elevate risk for grass fires in McHenry County

January is s et to wrap up this week with higher-than-normal temperatures and what the National Weather Service is calling breezy conditions.

With that also comes an elevated brush fire risk, according to the NWS offices in Romeoville.

“We are sort of sandwiched between storm systems here” with a high pressure system to the south and west, and a low pressure system over the Hudson Valley, meteorologist Lee Carlow said. Those two systems are causing the strong, gusty winds during the day that are expected to last at least into Wednesday.

Those winds were gusting up to 40 to 45 mph on Monday, were expected to drop to 20 to 30 mph overnight, then come back Tuesday with gusts in the 34-to-45 mph range.

“Then it is all over again on Wednesday” with similar winds in the forecast, Carlow said.

Parts of the McHenry County area were under a fire weather alert early Monday, and firefighters have fought at least brush fires in the area in recent days, one that burned 18 acres near Huntley in mid-January and another in Bull Valley last week.

Much of northern Illinois and all of McHenry County also is in a moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor website. The county has seen just 25% to 50% of its normal precipitation in the past 30 days, according to data from the National Integrated Drought Information System.

Relative humidity also is low, expected to be in the range of 25% to 30%, helping to create that elevated fire risk, according to the weather service. Neither is there much snow cover, and what little there was from weekend snow will likely be gone with temperatures reaching into the mid-40s this week, Carlow said.

The good news is that combustible natural materials likely have a decent amount of moisture, he said.

“There is still water ... in things like grasses, brush and evergreens. But the combination of gusty winds, dry conditions means an elevated threat for grass fires,” he said.

John Kimmel, fire chief for both Marengo Fire/Rescue District and the Harvard Fire Protection District, asked county residents to abide by the McHenry County open burning ordinance. That bans open burning outside the months of October and November or April and May, and never when wind speeds exceed 10 mph.

“The weather service is reporting 40 to 50 mph wind gusts,” Kimmel said, adding that any outdoor fires would “have the potential to go and go fast.”

It might be the middle of winter, but potential fire conditions now are similar to late summer or early fall, he said.

“We don’t have any snow cover and what does melt isn’t going to be enough to get rid of the dry conditions,” Kimmel said. “Take the precautions now that we take in the fall” to prevent brush fires, he said.

“We hope people heed the warnings and choose not to burn outside,” Kimmel said.

Moisture may be on the way, with a chance for some snow Thursday night into Friday, Carlow said, “but nothing that screams snowstorm.”

He also reminded northern Illinois residents that although there has been little snow this winter, the region is not done with the season. “There is a lot of winter to go, and we can get snow into February and deep into March.”