NYC Under Fire Risk Amid Dry Conditions, Gusty Winds

NEW YORK CITY — Don’t put anything past 2020 — New York City is under a fire risk thanks to dry conditions and gusty winds.

A high pressure system hovering over the East Coast and the city prompted the National Weather Service to warn of a fire risk Tuesday.

“Gusty northwest winds will develop today and continue into the afternoon, with gusts up to 20 to 25 miles per hour,” the weather statement reads. “The gusty winds, combined with low fuel moisture, and relative humidity values lowering to near 25 to 30 percent, will aid fire spread should ignition occur.”

That doesn’t mean New York City will go up in flames like the fires spreading across the West Coast. But tinder-dry conditions in abandoned, weedy lots or stretches of parched parkland could be one spark away from catching fire.

The city hasn’t seen much rain in the past month — 2.4 inches so far and none in the last seven days, according to The Weather Channel. The last significant rainfall fell on Sept. 10.

Since then, things have dried up.

So, be careful, New York. Who knows what a fire risk could mean in 2020.