Warm and windy today, winter storm forecast for Tuesday night to Wednesday night

MASON CITY — We will see the continuing mixing of the winter and spring seasons this week in north-central Iowa as clean-up continues from Friday’s storms that passed through, highs near 70 today with Red Flag Warning conditions for some portions of our listening area, and blizzard-type conditions in the forecast for later in the week:

== There is a Red Flag Warning in effect for the southern portion of our listening area from 11 o’clock this morning to 8:00 PM this evening for critical fire weather conditions. Very warm temperatures combined with dry vegetation, low relative humidity, and increasing winds will create conditions conducive for any grassland fires that develop to spread rapidly.

== The entire listening area is under a Winter Storm Watch from late Tuesday night through Wednesday night. A combination of moderate to heavy snow and strong, gusty winds may produce blizzard conditions on Wednesday. Winds may gust to 50 miles per hour or more, and travel may be difficult to impossible at times. The National Weather Service at this time says snowfall accumulations between two and eight inches are possible across the watch area. The higher end of that range is expected to be over west-central and northern Iowa. Winds could gust as high as 55 miles per hour. Those strong winds and weight of snow on tree limbs may down power lines and could cause sporadic power outages. Whiteout conditions are possible and may make travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening. Travel could be very difficult. Those who need to travel should consider delaying travel if possible, and if travel is absolutely necessary, drive with extreme caution and be prepared for sudden changes in visibility.