Hill Country, Rio Grande Plains under Red Flag Warning

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — The National Weather Service (NWS) is issuing a Red Flag Warning for several parts of south Texas through 7 p.m. Tuesday night.

Wind gusts could reach 40 mph in parts of the Rio Grande Plains and Southern Edwards Plateau throughout the day. This combined with relative humidity dipping down to 10-20% will create conditions critical to wildfires.

NWS reports near critical fire weather for portions of the Hill Country into the I-35 corridor where humidity stays in the 20-25% range.

In these conditions the risk of rapidly spreading wildfires is exceptionally high.

Activities to avoid include throwing lit cigarette butts out of cars, dragging chains that create sparks behind vehicles, and even parking a recently driven car on top of dead, dry grass.

Outdoor burning of any kind is strongly discouraged as recent rainfall in the region has been too light to prevent fires.