Wick weather watcher warns of further wildfire threats as dry spell set to continue
Wick weather watcher Keith Banks has highlighted the ongoing dry spell and corresponding wildfire threat it poses.
Keith said conditions are right for further wildfire outbreaks across the county after the moorland blazes around Thurso last week. Up until 6am on Thursday (April 17), the rainfall total for the month so far was just 6.2mm (0.24 of an inch).
“The long-term average quantity for the town in April is 47.5mm (1.87 inches),” he added.
“Wick's driest April since 1910 was that of 1952, when the total for the month was 12.4mm (0.49 of an inch).”
Keith says that the large Omega high that led to the long spell of fine settled weather until the end of last weekend has gone, and conditions have now become more changeable, with areas of low pressure affecting the UK.
“However, the prospects of any significant amounts of rain falling over Caithness in the foreseeable future are unlikely.
“The rainfall that will occur over the next couple of days will mainly be in the form of showers caused by convective processes occurring in the cold and unstable polar air mass that is currently covering Scotland.
“Indeed, with a ridge of high pressure attempting to build across northern Scotland from the region of Iceland and Greenland during the weekend, any convection and resultant showery rainfall will tend to diminish.”