If you were outside Thursday, you probably noticed the warmth and the wind.

These two factors are making for dangerous conditions when it comes to wildfires. That's why the National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch for Friday afternoon.

Chester Lauck, Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator with Frederick County, "It's a higher class of fire danger. It means the fire spread is more capable creating more damage and so forth."

Lauck has seen some dangerous wildfires in our area that have spread quickly.

"We had a fire in the Wild Acres or Mountain Falls Park area back in the 70s that burned a couple hundred acres and some structures," he continued.

That's why departments throughout the valley are taking precautions.

Jared Klein, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, explained, "It's been pretty dry lately except farther in the south in Central Virginia where they had some snow earlier. Farther north, we haven't had much precipitation this month."

Lauck added, "With the spring fire season, it's illegal to burn outside before 4 PM and the fire has to be out by midnight."

With winds up to 60 miles per hour gusting through the trees and humidity levels similar to the Arizona desert, the smallest spark could set things ablaze. Unfortunately, grass fires have already affected parts of Frederick and Warren Counties. That's why leaders are preparing ahead of the potential fire storm.

Lauck concluded, "We'll have extra apparatus on the road if needed. These things can move extremely fast."

Experts say our area is especially vulnerable this year with the lack of snow. The moisture content of fields and grasses is only about 5%.