Travis County firefighters are worried that drought conditions would return soon as summer's neutral conditions change to La Niña this fall. La Niña in Austin brings drier and warmer weather to Central Texas, affecting the area most in the coming colder months.

The Predictive Services Department Head of Texas A&M Forest Service, Tom Spencer, believes that the upcoming La Niña will dry up plants severely, encouraging drier conditions and warmer temperatures. Grass is expected to cure-- the lush greens will turn to dull brown/yellow-- the perfect recipe for wildfires. Experts are hopeful that rain will keep the cured grass from igniting, but damp ground will be difficult to come by in the coming season as rain chances are forecasted to be few and far. the Climate Prediction Center forecasts warmer, drier conditions from October 2016 through May 2017.

To prepare for this dry spell, Travis Country homeowners and residents in other communities are encouraged by the fire departments in the area to participate in mitigating risk by trimming overgrowth. Efforts by the local government to mitigate risk also include the implementation of an extended burn ban in the community.

To learn more about this developing news, you may access the KXAN report that was used as basis for this post here.