Burn bans being issued as Nebraska fire risk becomes 'critical' on Tuesday

A number of Nebraska fire departments are instituting burn bans because of worsening drought conditions that are heightening the risk of fires.

After a controlled fire got out of hand and burned a path through a field of corn stubble late last week, the Sutton Volunteer Fire Department on Sunday announced it is suspending burn permits for the time being.

“We, the Sutton Fire Department will not be issuing any new burn permits until we get some significant moisture in our area,” Chief Tracey Landenberger wrote on Facebook. “Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.”

On Monday, the St. Paul Volunteer Fire Department announced on Facebook that it, along with all other volunteer fire departments in Howard County, is suspending all burn permits. The post also cited the need for the area to get “significant moisture.”

Other departments that have instituted burn bans include those in Uehling, Unadilla and Waverly.

Nearly the entire state is scheduled to be under some kind of fire weather advisory or warning on Tuesday. A large swath of western and central Nebraska will be in a red flag warning, while areas of eastern Nebraska and the Panhandle are scheduled to be in a fire weather watch.

The National Weather Service Office in North Platte is warning that the potential fire risk in its coverage area could be the highest it’s been in years.

An extreme fire risk has been issued for parts of the Panhandle and southwest Nebraska. The last time that happened was April 14, 2015, said Caleb Brown, a meteorologist with the North Platte weather service office.

“The gist of the forecast is we are expecting near-record temperatures tomorrow in the upper 60s to 70s, relative humidity values as low as 10% to 15% tomorrow afternoon, and winds from the west gusting as high as 50 to 55 mph” Brown said.

He said those conditions are ripe for the area to see, “rapid and extreme fire spread.”

The potential fire risk also led the North Platte office to declare a “particularly dangerous situation,” or PDS. The designation is usually reserved for tornadoes or severe thunderstorms, and Brown said it’s the first time it’s been used in the North Platte office for fire conditions since it was created in 2019.

"They're certainly concerned tomorrow that if a fire does get started, that it could be on the larger side and will be very difficult to control,” Brown said.

The fire risk throughout the state is being driven largely by drought, which has expanded significantly over the past few weeks.

As of Thursday, nearly 60% of Nebraska was in some level of drought, up from only 17% three months ago. And extreme drought is now showing up in Morrill and Box Butte counties in the Panhandle. That’s the first time extreme drought has been present anywhere in Nebraska since June.

Western Nebraska is seeing one of its warmest and driest winters on record. Brown said some areas of the Panhandle and southwest Nebraska have snow deficits of 90%-95% so far this winter.

The good news is that the area could see some snow later this week after what are likely to be several record highs on Tuesday. Starting Wednesday, there will be a pattern change, with colder temperatures and a chance of rain and snow over much of western and central Nebraska.