Warning: FIRE DANGER ONLY APPLIES TO SNOW FREE AREAS.

Checking out the local weather forecast since I missed it in the paper this morning, I noticed we had a severe weather alert.  Ehh?  Sunny and pretty warm (43F) outside.

NORTHWEST KANSAS 431 AM CST WED JAN 24 2007

THE RANGELAND FIRE DANGER INDEX OVER NORTHWEST KANSAS TODAY IS EXPECTED TO BE

DIVISION FIRE INDEX TEMPERATURE HUMIDITY WIND SPEED NORTHWEST LOW NEAR 40 45 PCT 10/15 MPH

FIRE DANGER ONLY APPLIES TO SNOW FREE AREAS.

LOW FIRE DANGER MEANS…CONTROLLED BURNS CAN USUALLY BE EXECUTED WITH REASONABLE SAFETY.

CHECK WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO ENSURE BURNING IS ALLOWED BEFORE STARTING A PLANNED BURN.

Link to weather.com – U.S. Severe Weather Alerts

So let me get this straight… there’s a severe fire danger… unless the ground is covered in SNOW.  Yes, that’s right… Northwest Kansas… bordering Colorado–that area that has like 2′ of snow on the ground with ice underneath it?  Are there actually snow free areas that are catching ablaze?  I mean, step out my front door into 7″ of snow and where it’s not snowy, the ground is so saturated that it’s like a marsh.