Red Flag Warning Issued Saturday for Duluth Area, Critical Fire Weather Expected

The National Weather Service office in Duluth issued Red Flag Warnings Friday morning covering nine Minnesota counties stretching from the Duluth area through central and eastern Minnesota, warning that a combination of gusty southwest winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures will create dangerous fire conditions Saturday afternoon.

The warnings, issued at 11:14 a.m. CDT Friday, cover South Itasca, Carlton, and South St. Louis counties in northeastern Minnesota, as well as North Cass, South Cass, Crow Wing, Northern Aitkin, South Aitkin, and Pine counties in central and eastern Minnesota. All warnings run from noon to 7 p.m. CDT Saturday. For the central and eastern Minnesota counties, the NWS also confirmed that a previously issued Fire Weather Watch is no longer in effect, upgraded now to the Red Flag Warning.

Forecast conditions driving the warnings include southwest winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph and relative humidity dropping as low as 20 percent. Saturday highs are expected to climb into the upper 50s, approaching 60 degrees, with dry fuels adding to the risk. Any fire that ignites under those conditions would have the potential to spread rapidly and resist containment.

Both the Minnesota and Wisconsin DNR have burning restrictions in effect. Under standard DNR Red Flag policy, the agency does not issue or activate open burning permits for large vegetative debris burning during a warning, and campfires are discouraged. Residents in affected counties should check any recent burning to confirm it is fully extinguished. "Any spark could become a wildfire under Red Flag conditions," Karen Harrison, a DNR wildfire prevention specialist, said when the agency addressed an earlier Red Flag event in February.

Across the border in northwest Wisconsin, the NWS Duluth office issued a Special Weather Statement at 11:45 a.m. CDT Friday for Burnett and Washburn counties, including the cities of Grantsburg and Spooner. That statement, signed by forecaster Wolfe, stopped short of a full Red Flag Warning but described near-critical conditions: northwest winds of 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 35 mph, and minimum relative humidity values of 15 to 25 percent. Wisconsin residents can check county-specific open burning restrictions at apps.dnr.wi.gov/wisburn before lighting anything outdoors. The NWS statement was direct: "Together, these conditions could lead to the rapid spread of fires."

The Duluth-area warning is part of a broader pattern of critical fire weather across Minnesota Saturday. Much of the state, including the Twin Cities metro, faces Red Flag conditions, and portions of southern Minnesota are under warnings running from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., a longer window tied to NWS offices outside the Duluth coverage area. Red Flag Warnings have also been issued recently across Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, and into New Mexico and the southern High Plains, reflecting a wide stretch of dangerous fire weather across the central United States in late March.

Minnesota residents can receive text updates on wildfire risk and open burning restrictions by texting "FIRE" to 66468.