Warm, dry conditions combined with onshore winds will create an elevated danger of wildfire in interior sections of the Southland today, National Weather Service forecasters said.
A southwesterly onshore flow will peak this afternoon through this evening, producing gusts of 25 to 35 miles per hour in the San Gabriel Mountains and of between 35 and 45 mph in the foothills in the Antelope Valley, the NWS office in Oxnard said in a statement on its website, on a page headlined: “Elevated Fire Danger Across Interior Portions Through Monday.”
Humidity levels will be higher than during much of last week but still range only between 10 and 20 percent across the region’s interior areas, the statement said.
“These conditions increase the potential for rapid growth and extreme fire behavior if ignition occurs …,” it said.
A combination of sunny and partly cloudy skies is expected in Los Angeles County today, along with highs in the 70s along the coast, the low 80s in metropolitan Los Angeles, the low 90s in the San Gabriel and Santa Clarita valleys, and the mid 90s in the San Fernando and Antelope valleys.
Sunny skies are expected in Orange County, along with highs ranging from the 70s along the coast to the high 80s in some inland communities.
Similar temperatures will prevail through Thursday, dip slightly in Los Angeles County Friday but rise slightly in Orange County that day, according to an NWS forecast.
Today’s highs will be 5 degrees below normal at the coast, normal in metropolitan Los Angeles, and very close to normal in the valleys — 1 degree above normal in Van Nuys, 1 degree below normal in Burbank, NWS meteorologist Andrew Rorke said in a telephone interview from his station in Oxnard.
The factors contributing to an elevated fire danger are the low humidity and the August heat, along with the presence of dry vegetation, he said, stressing that the danger is “elevated, not critical.”
