Red Flag Warning Issued for Portions of Northwest Iowa and Southeast South Dakota
This alert is no longer in effect.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 Iowa and South Dakota through 6 PM CST today due to high winds and low humidity.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Red Flag Warning
- Affected area
- Northwest Iowa and Southeast South Dakota
- Issued
- April 6, 2026
- Issuing authority
- NWS Sioux Falls SD
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 Northwest Iowa and Southeast South Dakota.
Alert Details
The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls has issued a Red Flag Warning for wind and low relative humidity. This alert is issued by the NWS Sioux Falls SD office and indicates that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or are imminent.
Affected Areas
The warning covers the following regions:
- Iowa: Lyon, O'Brien, and Buena Vista counties.
- South Dakota: Jerauld, Sanborn, Hanson, McCook, and Minnehaha counties.
What You Should Do
Residents in the affected areas are advised that any fire that develops will catch and spread quickly. Outdoor burning is not recommended. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. Residents should prepare for hazardous fire conditions.
Expected Conditions
- Winds: Northwest winds between 20 to 30 mph, with gusts reaching up to 40 mph.
- Relative Humidity: Levels are expected to drop as low as 20 percent.
- Impacts: Critical fire weather conditions are expected to facilitate rapid fire growth.
Timeline
The Red Flag Warning is effective immediately as of February 27, 2026, and is scheduled to expire at 6:00 PM CST this evening.
Original source: NOAA Official Notice ↗
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