A Red Flag Warning has been issued for parts of southern Connecticut, northeast New Jersey, and southeast New York.

Although the Red Flag Warning was issued for only Friday, the threat of wildfires across the region will persist until the pattern switches back to wet. As of now, a pattern change does not look likely in the short term.

The latest update to the U.S. Drought Monitor was issued Thursday and the news isn’t good.  The tri-state area is withering in a prolonged and increasingly extreme drought situation.  It started in September,