{"id":164721,"date":"2026-02-22T13:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T13:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/164721\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T13:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T13:46:08","slug":"dry-air-gusty-winds-increase-fire-threat-in-central-florida-red-flag-warnings-issued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/164721\/","title":{"rendered":"Dry air, gusty winds increase fire threat in Central Florida; Red Flag Warnings issued"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dry air, gusty winds increase fire threat in Central Florida; Red Flag Warnings issued<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHEAD OUT, BUT WHEN ARE WE GOING TO REALLY START TO NOTICE THOSE WIND GUSTS START TO PICK UP BY AFTER LUNCHTIME? WIND SPEEDS ARE GOING TO RAMP UP. THIS MORNING WE\u2019RE DEALING WITH SOME RAIN WITH A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH, AND THEN IT IS GOING TO BRING US VERY CHILLY AIR THIS WEEK, WHICH IS WHY I\u2019M SHOWING YOU THE SEVEN-DAY OFF THE TOP. I\u2019M GOING TO SPEND A LITTLE BIT OF TIME ON THIS BECAUSE THERE\u2019S A LOT OF CHANGES OVER THE NEXT FOUR DAYS. THE FIRST CHANGE, THAT YELLOW ICON YOU SEE FOR TODAY THAT IS IMPACT WEATHER. AND THAT IS BECAUSE WE HAVE A HIGH FIRE DANGER RISK. TODAY WE ARE UNDER RED FLAG WARNINGS THIS AFTERNOON BECAUSE THOSE WINDS WILL RAMP UP. AND OF COURSE, YOU KNOW THE VEGETATION. IT\u2019S ALL DRY OUT THERE. SO THAT IS WHY WE\u2019RE UNDER REALLY HIGH FIRE DANGER RISK TODAY. AND THEN MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY. THAT IS A SEVERE WEATHER WARNING DAY. AND THAT IS DUE TO THE DANGEROUS COLD. LOOK AT THIS. WE\u2019RE LOOKING AT A LOW OF JUST 39 DEGREES TOMORROW MORNING IN ORLANDO, 35 ON TUESDAY MORNING AND STILL IN THE 30S EVEN ON WEDNESDAY. SO WE\u2019RE TALKING ABOUT DANGEROUSLY COLD CONDITIONS BEFORE TEMPERATURES GRADUALLY MODERATE BY THE END OF THE WORKWEEK AND LIVE. LOOK OUTSIDE. THIS MORNING, THAT COLD FRONT ALREADY STARTED TO PUSH ITS WAY THROUGH IN NORTHERN COUNTIES LIKE MARION COUNTY AND FLAGLER COUNTY. SO WE\u2019RE GETTING IN SOME RAIN. LOOK AT THAT. HERE\u2019S A LOOK AT THE SQUARE IN DOWNTOWN OCALA THIS MORNING. WE\u2019RE CURRENTLY AT 70 DEGREES 71, IN THE VILLAGES. 67 RIGHT NOW AND 68 IN SANFORD. SO HERE WE GO. THERE\u2019S A FRONTAL BOUNDARY PUSHING THROUGH, BRINGING THAT INCREASING CLOUD COVER. AND AGAIN, THAT RAIN THAT WE ALL NEED HERE. UNFORTUNATELY IT\u2019S REALLY NOT GOING TO BE MUCH TO HELP US IN TERMS OF THE DROUGHT CONDITIONS, BUT AT LEAST HELP US A LITTLE BIT WITH OUR LAWNS. HERE\u2019S A LOOK AT OUR FIRST WARNING RADAR THAT RAIN ABOUT TO MOVE INTO THE VILLAGES SOON AS WELL. WE\u2019RE STILL AFTER NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY. GET READY. YOU\u2019RE GOING TO GET SOME RAIN PRETTY SOON. NORTHERN FLAGLER COUNTY GETTING THAT RAIN NEAR PALM COAST MARYLAND FLAGLER BEACH, BUNNELL GETTING IN SOME LIGHT PITTER PATTER THIS MORNING SO THOSE RAIN SHOWERS WILL PUSH SOUTH AS WE GO THROUGHOUT THE MORNING. WILL REACH THE ORLANDO METRO, I WOULD SAY ABOUT 8:00 THIS FUTURECAST MODEL I THINK IS ABOUT AN HOUR OR TWO BEHIND. IT\u2019S A LITTLE TOO SLOW FOR MY LIKING HERE, SO IT\u2019S GOING TO BE MOVING IN BY 8 TO 9:00. BUT ONE THING I DO WANT TO POINT OUT IS THE WINDS. LOOK HOW THEY PICK UP THIS AFTERNOON. WE\u2019RE TALKING ABOUT GUSTS UP TO 30MPH. AS THAT RAIN CLEARS ON OUT. WE\u2019RE STILL DEALING WITH QUITE A BIT OF CLOUD COVER, BUT WITH THOSE WINDS PICKING UP, THAT\u2019S WHAT\u2019S GOING TO ELEVATE OUR FIRE DANGER RISK NOT ONLY FOR TODAY, BUT TOMORROW AS WELL. THOSE WIND GUSTS ARE GOING TO STICK AROUND THROUGH MONDAY. NOT ONLY WILL ELEVATE THE FIRE DANGER RISK FOR TOMORROW, BUT IT\u2019S ALSO GOING TO MAKE THINGS A LOT COLDER TO BE OUTSIDE TOMORROW AS WELL. SO IF YOU\u2019RE HEADING OUT TO THE THEME PARKS TODAY, IT WILL BE WARM IN THE MORNING AND THEN RAIN SHOWERS WILL MOVE THROUGH THIS MORNING AS WELL. AND THEN TEMPERATURES WILL ACTUALLY BE DROPPING THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON AS THOSE WIND SPEEDS PICK UP. SO THIS AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WILL ONLY BE IN THE MIDDLE 70S FOR HIGHS. BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT\u2019S GOING TO BE RIGHT AROUND LUNCHTIME TOMORROW MORNING. THAT\u2019S WHEN THE BOTTOM DROPS OUT 38 IN THE MORNING IN ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, 38 LAKE MARY WILL DROP DOWN TO 39 IN APOPKA TOMORROW MORNING AND 39 IN WINTER PARK. AS WE TAKE A LOOK AT OUR COASTLINE LOCATIONS, WE\u2019LL DROP DOWN TO AROUND 41. TITUSVILLE, 41, IN MELBOURNE. HIGHS TOMORROW AFTERNOON. NOT EVEN GETTING OUT OF THE 50S. THAT\u2019S HOW COLD IT\u2019S GOING TO BE TOMORROW. AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT, WE ARE LOOKING AT EVEN COLDER AIR ON THE WAY FOR TUESDAY BECAUSE OF THE COLD TEMPERATURES. WE ARE LOOKING AT A LOT OF A LOT OF FROST TO DEVELOP COME TUESDAY MORNING AND ON WEDNESDAY MORNING AS WELL. SO WIDESPREAD FROST THAT COULD IMPACT VEGETATION, SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF FARMERS WILL HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND. SO ONCE AGAIN, AS WE BREAK DOWN YOUR CENTRAL FLORIDA CERTIFIED MOST ACCURATE SEVEN DAY FORECAST, LOTS OF CHANGES ON THE WAY TODAY. A RED FLAG, RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THE HIGH FIR\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Dry air, gusty winds increase fire threat in Central Florida; Red Flag Warnings issued<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768911270_880_wesh.png\" class=\"lazyload lazyload-in-view branding\" alt=\"WESH logo\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tUpdated: 8:18 AM EST Feb 22, 2026\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wesh.com\/article\/hearst-television-news-policy-statements\/14471973\" class=\"editorial-standards border-left\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Editorial Standards \u24d8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCentral Florida will see several weather changes over the next four days.Rain showers are moving into the area this morning along with a cold front. Meteorologist Cam Tran says the showers should clear by late afternoon, but winds will increase behind the front.Because of the gusty and dry conditions, a Red Flag Warning is in effect this afternoon and again Monday afternoon.Winds are expected to remain strong through Monday before much colder air moves in. Wind chills could drop into the 20s and 30s on Monday and Tuesday mornings.Wednesday will remain cold, though lighter winds may allow frost to develop.Temperatures are expected to warm up by late week.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Central Florida will see several weather changes over the next four days.<\/p>\n<p>Rain showers are moving into the area this morning along with a cold front. <\/p>\n<p>Meteorologist Cam Tran says the showers should clear by late afternoon, but winds will increase behind the front.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThis content is imported from Twitter.<br \/>\n\tYou may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.\n<\/p>\n<p>Because of the gusty and dry conditions, a Red Flag Warning is in effect this afternoon and again Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Winds are expected to remain strong through Monday before much colder air moves in. Wind chills could drop into the 20s and 30s on Monday and Tuesday mornings.<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday will remain cold, though lighter winds may allow frost to develop.<\/p>\n<p>Temperatures are expected to warm up by late week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dry air, gusty winds increase fire threat in Central Florida; Red Flag Warnings issued HEAD OUT, BUT WHEN&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[147,78545,1267,8049,71108,4422,78485,28,30,29,12874,78544,26298,29761,5863,41177,28722,2486],"class_list":{"0":"post-164721","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-central-florida","9":"tag-cold-air-move","10":"tag-cold-front","11":"tag-dry-air","12":"tag-dry-condition","13":"tag-effect","14":"tag-fire-threat","15":"tag-florida","16":"tag-florida-headlines","17":"tag-florida-news","18":"tag-gusty-wind","19":"tag-late-afternoon","20":"tag-meteorologist-cam-tran","21":"tag-monday-afternoon","22":"tag-morning","23":"tag-rain-shower","24":"tag-red-flag-warnings","25":"tag-wednesday"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}