I heard a new weather term this evening : Red Flag Warning. My first thought was of the type of flag flown on beaches during a pending hurricane.
However, it is actually used to describe conditions that are dry and windy.
Wikipedia on Red Flag Warning:
A Red Flag Warning is a forecast warning issued by the United States National Weather Service to inform area firefighting and land management agencies that conditions are ideal for wildland fire ignition and propagation
Interestingly enough, many news outlets take this opportunity to make a rather odd warning. In a nutshell, the warning may be summarized as follows:
During Red Flag Warning, be careful with fire and don’t toss your lit cigarettes or matches into the grass. Oh, and if you do controlled burns, be careful too.
Indeed, it is good advice in general to be careful with fire, I am not disputing that.
However, the manner in which the advice is dispensed makes it sound like outside of Red Flag Warnings, the act of flinging a flinging a lit match or cigarette into the grass is perfectly safe and acceptable. And then, in an effort to point out that the story isn’t targeting smokers, it will point out how those conducting controlled burns should also be careful.
I am not sure what to make of it, but find it a bit peculiar.