A dry spell in Glynn County and in other areas in south Georgia is leaving marshes, forests and grassy fields prone to fires.

Glynn County has already seen nine grass and wood fires since the beginning of the year, one of which burned an area close to an elementary school.

That fire, which began at night on March 12, burned 2 acres of a wooded area behind Golden Isles Elementary School at 1350 Cate Road before firefighters got it under control.

"(The fire) was about a rifle's shot or 300 feet from the school," said Capt. Jerome Johnson of the Glynn County Fire Department.

Johnson said that any easily ignitable fire is a concern for his department and the Georgia Forestry Commission when woodlands are dry and grass is tender.

Jason Harris, a ranger with the Georgia Forestry Commission's Glynn County office, said many of the fires this year have been near U.S. 17 close to the marshes. They were started either intentionally or unintentionally by people, he said.

"Recently, we've had real low humidity and high winds which can help spark fires," Harris said.

In Brunswick, rainfall for the year is at 8.73 inches. That is below the 10.39-inch average for this time of year, said state climatologist David Stooksbury.

"It has been dry," said Stooksbury, a biological and agricultural engineering professor at the University of Georgia. "Unfortunately for South Georgia, it missed out on all the rain that middle and north Georgia had earlier this week. Those areas got from 1 to 3 inches of rain on Monday and Tuesday."

Brunswick has seen only 0.11 inches of rainfall so far in March. Unless a significant amount of rain falls by the end of the month, this will be the third consecutive March that rainfall did not reach 2.63 inches.

Streams that depend on fresh water are flowing below normal and some lake levels are down, Stooksbury said.

"What we're seeing along Coastal Georgia is abnormally dry conditions for early spring," Stooksbury said. "But it would not be appropriate to classify it as a drought at this time."

Stooksbury said the dry weather Glynn and other South Georgia counties are experiencing is no cause for alarm – not yet anyway. It will be, though, if the trend continues.

While there is a chance of some isolated showers Thursday night, the forecast through Monday is for dry weather.