The National Weather Service has announced that a Red Flag Warning in the state will expand to Northwestern Minnesota counties.

With extreme fire risk conditions across northern Minnesota today, the National Weather Service has expanded a Red Flag Warning to include the following counties: Becker, Beltrami, Cass, Clay, Clearwater, Cook, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, Lake Of The Woods, Mahnomen, Otter Tail, St. Louis, Wadena, and Wilkin.

The Red Flag Warning remains in effect today for Kittson, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau counties.

A Red Flag Warning means the area is experiencing critical weather conditions that are ideal for wildfire, including strong winds and low humidity. Do not burn while the Red Flag Warning remains in effect and check any burning done recently to ensure the fire is out. Any spark could become a wildfire under Red Flag conditions.

The Red Flag Warning expires at 9 PM.

By — Chris Burns