Forecasters say strong winds will gust up to 50 miles an hour today, while temperatures will again climb well above normal into the 50s and 60s.
National Weather Service meteorologist Kristy Carter says with the unseasonably warm weather and dry vegetation, open burning is strongly discouraged statewide as fires could quickly get out of control.
“So it’s already pretty windy out there and it’s just going to get worse before it gets better,” Carter says. “We are looking at a Wind Advisory that covers much of the northern half of the state, really the Highway 30 corridor and north, and then there’s also a Red Flag Warning that’ll be out for the entire area.”
The Iowa Fire Marshal says 15 counties are under burn bans, while Carter says that Red Flag Warning is posted for 96 of the 99 counties.
“When you mix those windy conditions with very dry conditions, and we didn’t really get much in the way of appreciable rain overnight,” she says, “so we are looking at very prime conditions for any fire spread if a fire were to be started. We certainly want to discourage any burning.”
A cold front is predicted to arrive Thursday, which Carter says also brings a chance of rain or snow, along with more seasonal high temperatures in the 20s and 30s.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)