Despite the Ice and Snow Melt, Our Fire Danger Remains High in East Texas

(Tyler, Texas) - The artic blast was fun while it lasted. Now we get to see it all melt away. I, for one, welcome the warmer temperatures. I'm not a fan of the cold weather.

One thing we kept monitoring leading up to these couple of days of ice and snow was the drought conditions in East Texas. The lack of rain over the last several months has made the ground very dry and highly susceptible to fire. Despite all the ice and snow that's melting now, we are still under a high fire danger in East Texas.

The Ice and Snow Melt Doesn't Reduce Our Fire Danger

After Snowmageddon in 2021, we noticed that some of our pine trees were turning a brownish color about half way up their trunks (Texas A&M Forest Service). That was because those trees went into, for lack of a better term, survival mode. Some trees survived, some didn't.

We're seeing a similar thing with our grass right now (KXAN). Essentially, the hard freeze has dried the grass even more making it easier to catch on fire. Right now, there are six counties under a burn ban:

• Hunt
• Hopkins
• Kaufman
• Van Zandt
• Shelby
• Newton

READ MORE: How Your Tongue Can Actually Stick to Frozen Metal

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Despite the Ice and Snow Melting, the Fire Danger is High

Since the grass was already dry before the ice and snow arrived, and with the freeze drying the grass even more, the risk of a grass fire is even higher now. The best thing to do is not do any outdoor burning until we can get some substantial rainfall. For those living in the six counties above, it's illegal to do any outdoor burning right now.

READ MORE: 'Storm Chasers' are Using the Artic Blast to Steal Your Money