KNYSNA | BITOU NEWS - The South African Weather Services (Saws) has issued a warning of fire danger to residents of Knysna and Plettenberg for today, Tuesday 17 May, and more so tomorrow, Wednesday 18 May.
With temperatures in Knysna and Plett forecast to exceed 30ºC today and to be in the high 20s tomorrow, Saws has said a yellow fire warning applies for today and an orange fire warning for tomorrow.
The warning is based on Saws’ Fire Danger Index (FDI).
For the yellow fire warning, residents are advised to take extra caution when starting any fire, while the orange fire warning means that fire-fighting teams are kept on stand-by and no one should ignite any open flames.
For those unaware the FDI is a rating system that provides an indication as to the fire risk for a specific area on a specific day. If the expected environmental factors are known for the coming period, the FDI can be forecast.
According to www.envirowildfire.co.za, the environmental factors that are taken into consideration are:
- Temperature: readings taken in °C.
- Relative humidity: the percentage of moisture in the air - the less moisture, the higher the value.
- Wind speed: the stronger the wind, the greater the fire risk.
- Previous rain: this is tabulated according to when last and how much fell. Expected rainfall is not considered, even if it is certain to occur. This however is countered by the expected relative humidity.
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