NWS Sioux Falls issued a Red Flag Warning on Tuesday that covered a portion of NW Iowa. For Iowa, this was the first such warning issued during the month of January on record, but the archive only goes back 10 to 15 years. That caveat aside, it is still remarkable to see fire weather conditions materialize for the state during the middle of winter! The featured chart presents the period each year between the first and last such warning, with another caveat that not all Iowa serving NWS Offices have been issuing this warning type since 2006. Only 2022 has a comparably early instance with most years getting started during March.

Voting:
Good = 14
Bad = 2
Abstain = 1