You could see Santa and his reindeer flying for another reason tonight as a High Wind Warning has been issued for most of the state.

Washington County and most of southeast Iowa will be under the warning from 3 p.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. Thursday, as southwest winds of 25 to 35 miles per hour are forecasted with gusts of up to 65 miles per hour. Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen says stronger gusts are possible with showers and storms Wednesday evening, “Based on the briefing that we got from the National Weather Service it really looks like Washington County should see the winds really picking up between 4 and 8 p.m. and it could go pretty well through the night up to like 3 or 4 in the morning.”

Reisen recommends taking care of any loose outdoor objects, and if possible, to remain in the lower levels of your home during the windstorm and to avoid windows. She adds to expect tree damage and downed power lines, “The big thing to be prepared for is power outages. There’s a good chance that we will lose power at some point Wednesday night, and there’s the potential that if this is a very widespread event which, I mean, the wind event is going to be very widespread that we could be without power for more than a few minutes. It could be a couple hours, if this is as big as it looks like it might be.”

Travel is predicted to be difficult while the warning is in effect, especially high profile vehicles. Residents should also avoid starting any fires as they could spread rapidly. Listen to KCII for weather updates.