Drought prompts fire weather watch for northern Michigan

The National Weather Service is warning that drought-like conditions have sparked a fire weather watch for Thursday in parts of northern Michigan.

The area covers the region north of Muskegon, Big Rapids, Mount Pleasant and Midland up to the tip of the lower peninsula, according to a National Weather Service map and an alert issued Wednesday.

The fire weather watch remains in effect from Thursday morning through Thursday evening because of "high temperatures and lower humidity values across Northern Lower Michigan," the weather service said.  

There is "severe drought" in a swath of Michigan that runs from southwest and west coast line of the state to the Thumb and Saginaw/Bay City area, according to a map maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The rest of the region north of there is a mixture of "moderate drought" and abnormally dry conditions.