Dangerous fire conditions are expected today through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

A cold front will move across the region, bringing high winds and dry air. The combination of dry vegetation, high winds and low humidity led to a Fire Weather Watch being issued, the NWS said in a statement.

Lincoln County remains under a burn ban until Nov. 2. Surrounding counties also remain under a ban. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates a burn ban is guilty of a misdemeanor and may be fined not less than $100 and not more than $500.

Most of Lincoln County now falls in the “extreme drought” category, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. A small slice of the western part of the county is labeled as “severe drought.”

Almost 83 percent of the state is labeled as either “abnormally dry” or in some form of drought. About a third of the state is in the severe drought category. At this time last year, no part of the state was considered in drought.

According to the National Weather Service, July to September of this year was the second driest on record. The fourth and fifth driest September was recorded at Greenwood and Greenville.

Farmers have seen crop yields drop 10-30 percent due to dry conditions.

“The agriculture season has been about feast and famine,” the weather service said. “During the spring, fields were too wet to get into to prepare for planting. Beginning in June, rainfall began to taper off across the region. Rainfall that has occurred since June has been scattered across the area.”

“Cotton planted early enough has done well,” the weather service said. “Soy bean yields may be down even more than all other crops in general. Peanut farmers have had much difficulty harvesting due to the hard ground.”

“Rain that would come now wouldn’t have any impact on yield and would just slow down the harvest,” LSU AgCenter economist Kurt Guidry said.

The weather service said the planting of fall crops has been significantly delayed, especially for home gardens. Area lakes and ponds will continue to drop until significant rain falls.