Extreme fire danger expected this weekend; Pillen extends burn ban

Dry and windy weather is amplifying the threat of wildfires across Nebraska in the coming week. Amid the heightened threat, several weather and emergency agencies are warning people to not burn anything outdoors or partake in any activities that could spark a fire.

"All the vegetation is pretty dry," National Weather Service-Omaha meteorologist Clint Aegerter said. "There has been a little green-up, but as you go farther west into the state, there's still a lot of brown vegetation out there that's ready to burn. The fuels are ready to burn."

The fire risk appears to have prompted Gov. Jim Pillen to extend a burn ban in central and western Nebraska. The ban, which was scheduled to expire at midnight Saturday, was extended to May 20.

Pillen first issued a burn ban in late April after a controlled burn broke out into a wildfire near Ainsworth during warm, dry and windy conditions. The governor extended the ban until for the western three-fourths of the state on April 29. The ban has an exception to allow fire chiefs discretion in granting burn permits to irrigation districts so that they can continue to clear vegetation from ditches. However, Pillen said in a news release that "under no circumstances are burns to be authorized in any area when the National Weather Service issues a red flag warning."

The National Weather Service office in North Platte says “elevated to near critical” fire conditions are expected early next week between Mother’s Day and Thursday due to low humidity and gusty winds. The greatest threat is between Sunday and Monday when southerly winds are expected to gust up to 40 mph while humidity is expected to drop into the 15%-25% range.

"All those ingredients together make it bad potential for fire. If a fire starts, it could spread really quickly. And then on top of that, the fires can start pretty easily when it's that dry out. We're looking at gusts 30-40 mph at times, and possibly even higher in a few spots. Hot, dry, windy and dry fuels is just not a good combination," Aegerter said.

The Nebraska Forest Service is monitoring conditions ahead of next week. While many wildfires are caused by some sort of debris burning that gets out of control, Deputy State Forest Steven Jada said lightning strikes can also be fire-starters. However, "nine out of 10" of wildfires are human-caused, Jada said. Chains dragging along pavement is another common ignition.

Jada said this is a good time for people to check for any sources of wildfire ignitions on their property, especially if they have burned debris recently. People should keep in mind the forecast for the day but also the following days.

"The majority of those debris burns are what we call holdover fires," Jada said. "There's a lot of heat that's held within those, and then while it may not necessarily be windy on that day, maybe two or three days afterwards, it does get windy...There may be some heat left in that pile, and that's when wind takes it and creates another ignition source."

So far this year, most of the state has seen a dip in precipitation compared to normal averages, according to the National Weather Service. The lack of moisture continues the ongoing dry trend in Nebraska since late last year. It’s caused drought conditions to further expand throughout the state.

Meteorologists at the Hastings National Weather Service office said 2025 is off to a “poor” start when it comes to precipitation in its 30-county area with most places only receiving 40%-80% of normal precipitation so far this year. Most precipitation in the south-central area has fallen south of the Nebraska-Kansas border.

National Weather Service-Hastings Lead Meterologist Jordan Thies said the tri-cities area, including Grand Island, Hastings and Kearney, had some of the driest starts to the year. Both Grand Island and Kearney experienced the ninth driest Jan. 1 - May 4, 2025 time period in 130 years.

"Unfortunately, this is the most I've seen pivots run at this time of year," Thies said. Typically April and May are not concerning when it comes to fire weather, but that isn't the case this year, according to Thies, who said the lack of rainfall is concerning to nearby farmers who are putting their seeds into the ground.

Extreme drought is now cropping up in northeastern Nebraska, according to this week’s update from the National Drought Mitigation Center. In the newest map released Thursday morning, an area encompassing most of Antelope County and portions of neighboring Holt and Wheeler counties went from D2 Severe Drought conditions to D3 Extreme Drought. There’s only one higher level of drought: D4 Exceptional.

This adds onto the continuing dry and dusty conditions being experienced in Nebraska’s northwestern counties of Sioux, Dawes, Box Butte, Scotts Bluff and Banner.

The state might have a chance of precipitation later in May The National Weather Service expects wetter weather to move in the week of May 18.