Monday, 03 September 2007 23:48

Fire Danger High and Rising

Fire danger this year has reached conditions that are making every day a significant day for wildland fire consideration. However, later this week dry conditions and wind patterns will combine for High Risk wild land fire conditions.
Tonight, high pressure in the eastern Pacific will begin dominate the Northern CA weather pattern.  A northerly wind pattern will develop from the west slopes of the Sierra to the coast and continue through Friday, maybe into Saturday.  These areas, including the foothills and the western slopes of the Sierra, will have poor overnight Relative Humidity recovery with winds gusting to 25-35 mph during nights and mornings, and many locations will see minimum afternoon humidity in the 5-15% range. Gusty NW-NE winds Tuesday night through Friday will push from the west slopes of the Sierra to the coastal mountains and valleys (south of Cape Mendocino) into the "High Risk" category.  Dry and warm weather will continue through next weekend. This means fire danger risk will continue to be very high through the end of the week.