Fire danger escalating rapidly

NEBRASKA CITY – The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources NE Rain Project shows six consecutive days with no precipitation anywhere in the state, which has not been surpassed since there were 10 rainless days in October of 2011.
Northernly winds are forecast from 18 to 21 mph from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, turning southernly overnight.
There is a 7 percent chance of precipitation on Saturday, but no substantial rainfall is forecast for the next 14 days.
Of the last 33 days, Nemaha NRD has had 22 zero precipitation days and is currently on a streak of nine days. The last day with over an inch of rain was Sept. 16.
The Nebraska Rangeland Fire Danger Index has portions of southeast Nebraska in the low risk of fire danger today, but the risk is expected to escalate so nearly the entire state is in very high risk by Saturday.
The Nemaha NRD has issued a burn ban on all of its recreation areas.
Nebraska City and Talmage fire departments have ordered burn bans.
The Avoca Fire Department posts that any fire starts will be capable of erratic behavior and will quickly become out of control.
The fire department says over 90 percent of wildfires are human caused and asks residents to do their part to protect lives and property.