With strong winds buffeting the region today, the Sedgwick County Fire Marshal is strongly discouraging all outdoor burning, cooking, cutting or welding for the remainder of the day.
Dry grass, low humidity and winds gusting above 40 miles an hour have set the stage for very dangerous conditions in which any fire could quickly spread out of control.
A burn ban has not been enacted, officials said, but burning of any kind is strongly discouraged.
Given what today’s weather is like – winds gusting above 30 miles an hour and temperatures surging above 70 – I’d be more tempted to think that the holiday on the horizon is Easter, not Thanksgiving.
And I couldn’t help but wonder if the above-normal temperatures will play a role in the outcome of the presidential election. There’s that sports theory that claims every time the Washington Redskins win a football game the Sunday before a presidential election, the incumbent party stays in office; if the Redskins lose, the party not in power wins.
I’m curious to see if there’s a trend linked to temperatures above 60 degrees in Wichita on Election Day. I’ll do some poking around and see what I can find out.