The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for 27 counties in southwest and central Iowa for today.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Ashley Bury says we haven’t had much moisture and that creates the concern. “Conditions are expected to be quite windy and also dry. We have also dry conditions in terms of grasses being fully cured, so they’re very dry, conducive to burn, and with the windy conditions that could lead to spreading fires,” she says.
Bury says there’s not expected to be any change in conditions through the weekend. “Burning is not recommended. If you need to do so, I would at least delay it to a different day, but even into the weekend. So Saturday, for example, we also have a fire weather watch across much of western Iowa for similar conditions, if not even more critical for fire weather. So delay burning at least a few days,” Bury says.
She says the fire weather watch gives some advanced notice compared to the red flag warning. “Terms of conditions, they’re similar, but for a watch, it’s more time out ahead of the event. So since it’s a few days out, were watching conditions,” she says. “The forecast looks like it’s conducive for the dry and windy conditions, but as we get closer and confidence increases, that will likely convert over into a red flag warning.”
Bury says there could be some relief for the dry areas as we get into next week. “Looks like we’re going to be dry, at least until early next week, where the pattern at that point looks like it will turn more active. So some chances for showers, maybe some storms, maybe later Monday and beyond that,” she says.
You can go to weather.gov to learn more about the weather conditions.