Four more county judges have banned burning debris because of the potential for wildfires as temperatures continue to rise and vegetation dries out, bringing the number of counties with such restrictions to 11.
Lincoln, Miller, Ouachita and Union counties now all prohibit the burning of trash, brush and debris after their county judges issued the bans Wednesday. Those counties join Chicot, Faulkner, Garland, Hempstead, Howard, Jefferson and Saline counties, which stopped burning earlier this week.
The Arkansas Forestry Commission also said 28 counties in the central and southwestern sections of the state are considered to be in moderate danger for wildfires.
"It's getting dry," said Scott Morehead, the commission's Columbia County forest ranger. "We thought we'd get some rain, but it's drying out pretty fast."
The northern half of the state saw rain Wednesday as an upper-level low entered from Missouri. However, southern Arkansas remained dry.
It has not rained in Columbia County for a month, Morehead said.
"The grass is pretty brown," the ranger said. "We've been placed on Ready Level 3, which means we need to be ready at all times for a fire."
Despite the lack of rain, the U.S. Drought Mitigation Center said 99.5 percent of Arkansas remains drought-free. The center, based at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, evaluates drought conditions across the country by using rainfall totals, temperatures and other climate data.
Only a tiny sliver of southwest Miller County was considered be "abnormally dry," the lowest drought category the center issues.
National Weather Service forecasters said the rain that fell in northern Arkansas on Wednesday won't reach the southern part of the state today.
"The [high-pressure] ridge will build back up," said National Weather Service meteorologist Tabitha Clarke of North Little Rock. "The thunderstorms and showers are going to miss the areas that need it the most.
"There won't be any relief for them," she said.
Meteorologists expected temperatures to rise during the week and reach triple digits by Friday, then remain above 100 degrees through Tuesday.
The Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for areas south of a line from Russellville to Cotton Plant for today and Friday. The heat index, which is a measure of how hot it feels when relative humidity is factored in with actual air temperature, is expected to reach between 105 degrees and 113 degrees in the area under the advisory.
State Desk on 08/06/2015