Weather conditions prompt 'Red Flag Warning'

NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP — From Ironwood to Sault Ste. Marie and everywhere in between, the Upper Peninsula has been under a Red Flag Warning all day long.

The National Weather Service issued the Red Flag Warning early this morning. A prolonged stretch of dry weather, a minimum relative humidity, high winds and warmer temperatures are all driving factors in today’s warning.

Meteorologists at the NWS coordinate with other agencies like the Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service to spread the word about today’s dangerous weather conditions that could lead to a forest fire.

“We haven’t issued a red flag warning in a couple of years,” said meteorologist Jonathan Voss of the NWS. “We’ve had some pretty large fires. The last one we had was the Duck Lake Fire. Springtime is when we tend to see the more critical fire conditions.”

This stretch of warm and dry weather isn’t expected to last much longer. Some much-needed precipitation is in the forecast later this week.

“We have a system coming through Wednesday night and Thursday that we hope will be bringing some relief to the dry conditions,” said Voss. “Maybe we’ll see up to a quarter inch of precipitation in many places. That’s what we’re hoping to see.”

The Red Flag Warning is set to expire tonight at 8 p.m. eastern.