Red Flag Warning Issued for Portions of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota Through Thursday Night
This alert is no longer in effect.
NOAA issued it on April 6, 2026, 4 months ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).
Areazine synthesizes this NWS weather alert directly from NOAA's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for parts of the tri-state area due to strong winds and low humidity, creating critical fire weather conditions on Thursday.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Red Flag Warning
- Affected area
- Tri-State Region (IA, NE, SD)
- Issued
- April 6, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Sioux Falls
Fire-weather notices describe conditions that can support rapid fire spread; they do not report that a fire is present. Check local emergency sources for any active incident.
Record status: historical. It was issued 4 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Tri-State Region (IA, NE, SD).
Alert Details
The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls has issued a Red Flag Warning for wind and low relative humidity. This alert replaces the previous Fire Weather Watch for the region.
Affected Areas
The warning impacts the following geographic regions:
- Iowa: Lyon, Osceola, Dickinson, Sioux, O'Brien, Clay, Plymouth, Cherokee, Buena Vista, Woodbury, and Ida counties.
- Nebraska: Dixon and Dakota counties.
- South Dakota: Beadle, Gregory, Jerauld, Sanborn, Miner, Lake, Brule, Aurora, Davison, Hanson, McCook, Minnehaha, Charles Mix, Douglas, Hutchinson, Turner, Lincoln, Bon Homme, Yankton, Clay, and Union counties.
Expected Conditions
Critical fire weather conditions are expected based on the following parameters:
- Winds: Southwest winds of 20 to 30 mph are forecast, with gusts reaching up to 45 mph.
- Relative Humidity: Humidity levels are expected to drop as low as 25 percent.
- Fire Behavior: A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures will contribute to extreme fire behavior. Any fire that develops will catch and spread quickly.
What You Should Do
- Outdoor Burning: Outdoor burning is not recommended under these conditions.
- Precautionary Actions: Residents should be prepared for critical fire weather. A Red Flag Warning means that hazardous conditions are either occurring now or will shortly.
Timeline
The Red Flag Warning is effective from 12:00 PM (noon) to 9:00 PM CDT on Thursday, March 12.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
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