Red Flag Warning Issued for Portions of Missouri and Illinois Through Friday Evening
This alert is no longer in effect.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 Missouri and Illinois as high winds and low humidity create conditions for rapid fire spread.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Red Flag Warning
- Affected area
- Missouri and Illinois
- Issued
- April 6, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS St Louis
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 Missouri and Illinois.
Alert Details
A Red Flag Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service in St. Louis, MO. This alert indicates that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly, posing a significant risk for fire hazards.
Affected Areas
The warning covers a broad region across two states:
- Illinois Counties: Greene, Macoupin, Adams, Brown, Pike, Calhoun, Jersey, and Madison.
- Missouri Counties: Knox, Lewis, Shelby, Marion, Monroe, Ralls, Pike, Boone, Audrain, Moniteau, Cole, Osage, Callaway, Montgomery, Lincoln, Gasconade, Warren, St. Charles, Franklin, St. Louis, and St. Louis City.
What You Should Do
Residents and officials are advised to take the following precautions:
- Outdoor burning is not recommended under these conditions.
- Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly and become difficult to control.
- Please advise appropriate officials or fire crews in the field regarding this warning.
- Exercise extreme caution with any potential ignition sources.
Expected Conditions
The National Weather Service cites a combination of strong winds and low moisture levels as the primary hazards:
- Winds: West winds between 10 to 20 mph, with gusts reaching up to 35 mph.
- Relative Humidity: Humidity levels are expected to drop to between 21 and 25 percent.
- Impacts: The combination of dry air and gusty winds means that any fire starts will exhibit rapid growth and spread.
Timeline
The Red Flag Warning is effective immediately and will remain in place until 6:00 PM CST this evening, February 27, 2026.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
Related Weather Alerts
All Weather Alerts →Nationwide notices with similar length or severity timing 8
Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this NWS weather alert: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.
Similar body length
Nearest notices by article body length (1,598 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (high) notices issued closest in time to April 6, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
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