Practically all over Poland on Fridays and Saturdays there is extreme fire hazard. Only small parts of the country in the mountains and by the sea have “only” a high or very high threat. This is the state for the hours between 14 and 16 according to IMGW models. The Forest Research Institute presents similar data – in most of the country the fire threat is at its maximum level in the afternoon.
As for forests, it won't get any more extreme. There is no such scale
– commented activist Daniel Petryczkiewicz.
Extreme fire hazard across the country. Poland is parched
The fire hazard is most dangerous when we are dealing with drought and heat. Both of these factors are present and exceed the scale. – 69% of all rivers in Poland are in the low water zone. We have had a permanent drought since 2015 – he said in an interview with next.gazeta.pl Deputy Director of the National Hydrological Protection Centre at IMWM-PIB Grzegorz Walijewski.
But what is worrying is that this year's drought is worse than in previous years. In the last three decades, only 2015 was drier. – According to forecasts, the number of stations indicating drought will increase to about 300 out of over 600. It is therefore possible that by the end of September, half of the IMWM-PIB stations will measure hydrological drought – said Walijewski.
Double-digit temperature anomaly. Next week could be wetter
– Every day we record very extreme temperature measurements, which is why evaporation is very high. On Wednesday, the temperature anomaly for the entire country was +5 degrees Celsius. However, in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, it was as much as 10 degrees warmer that day than the average for this time of year – says Grzegorz Walijewski.
There is a chance, however, that the situation will improve slightly next week. “According to the numerical forecast, next week we will see a great return of the long-awaited rain. Goodbye heat, hello precipitation. In some places, even the thermometer will get offended and will not show more than 20 degrees Celsius. It's time to get out the rubber boots and enjoy the return of moisture,” IMGW reported on Friday at the 10th IMGW meeting.