Prepare for fire danger in southwestern Pennsylvania through Friday evening

A National Weather Service report was issued at 8:51 a.m. Friday, extending the fire danger until 6:15 p.m. for Westmoreland Ridges, Fayette Ridges and Higher Elevations of Indiana, as well as Lawrence, Butler, Beaver, Allegheny, Armstrong, Washington, Greene counties , Westmoreland, Fayette and Indiana.

“Low relative humidity levels due to exceptionally dry weather pose an increased fire risk this afternoon. Relative humidity levels are expected to drop to as low as 30% during peak heating periods across southwestern Pennsylvania. Additionally, westerly wind gusts of up to 15 – 20 mph are expected at times this afternoon and this, combined with the low RH levels, creates an increased fire risk. “Use particular caution during activities involving open flames or sparks, as fires can easily spread in these weather conditions,” the weather service said.

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service from United Robots that uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.