Washington and Benton counties have joined the list of Northwest Arkansas and River Valley counties under burn bans as dry and windy weather has raised concerns of wildfires.

Nearly a dozen counties, all in the Northwest part of Arkansas are under a burn ban until further notice. Benton and Washington counties were added on Friday to the growing list of counties under a burn ban.

After missing out on beneficial rainfall this past weekend, drought conditions are expected to worsen across Northwest Arkansas as we go throughout the next several days. September has not been kind to our area in terms of rainfall totals,

Crawford County has joined the growing number of area counties issuing burn bans due to persistent dry and windy weather. County Judge Chris Keith issued Thursday morning, citing "hazardous dry weather and high winds.