Red flag fire warning issued for Richland and towns west

Richland and towns to the west, including Benton City and Prosser, will be under a red flag fire warning issued by the National Weather Service from 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday.

Very low humidity and hot and breezy weather could cause any fire to spread quickly.

Breezes are expected to pick up through the late afternoon and evening. Gusts as high as 18 mph are forecast from Richland to Prosser, with gusts up to 21 mph west of there.

The high Thursday in Richland should be almost 10 degrees above normal at 95 degrees, according to the weather service.

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 12:32 PM with the headline "Red flag fire warning issued for Richland and towns west."