As St. Patrick's Day approaches, big changes are in the forecast. Temperatures and winds will be on the incline. On Monday, winds will gust around 35 mph, and on Tuesday winds could get up to 45 mph. Once again, blowing dust, power outages, and rough travel will be expected through Wednesday.

After a brief cooldown, heat and high winds are expected to return to North Texas. Residents should prepare for increased fire danger this coming week.

High winds are stirring up dust, putting parts of North Texas under a blowing dust advisory until 9 p.m. Friday. The weather service said as a result,

Our fire threat remains Elevated to Critical on Saturday as very low humidity remains in place, with gusty winds. Sunday will be less breezy, but the breeze returns next week, as

The North Texas region is under critical or extreme fire threats on Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

So far, DFW has not seen any major fires, but the extreme threat continues into Friday afternoon. North Texas fire departments have increased staffing and more tools on hand, responding with more than the typical number of engines.