Monroe County and 18 other counties in Pennsylvania, including Carbon and Northampton, are under a red flag warning on Friday.
“A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly due to a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and dry fuels. Any fires that develop may quickly get out of control and become difficult to contain,” the National Weather Service said.
The warning is in effect from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
All of Monroe County is in moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday. Nearly all of Pennsylvania, 96.97%, is at least abnormally dry.
October was the driest month on record in the Poconos.
More:Pocono weather: Driest month on record ends with hottest Halloween
Kathryne Rubright is the managing editor of the Pocono Record and the Tri-County Independent. Reach her atkrubright@gannett.com.
