Southern Calfornia Wind event

[Mark Sedenquist]

(Courtesy of The Wind Map)
Surface wind data comes from the National Digital Forecast Database.

There hasn't been much of an Fall fire event in Southern California, but things are a bit unsettled.

This was part of my morning fire briefing from the region:

Southern California is preparing for a wind event starting today that could bring winds up to 80MPH in some areas and relative humidities hovering around 10%. This Santa Ana wind event and Red Flag Warnings are forecast from Sacramento to San Diego, and according to the National Weather Service, the already critically dry fuels will only become more receptive.

The strongest potential for these winds will manifest themselves on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, prompting power provider PG&E to initiate its Public Safety Power Shutoff Program. Up to 17 counties in California could see their power shut off mid-week.

Any road trippers planning to travel in California in the next five days should be aware of this. (Actually, this applies to me--because I will be attending an academic conference in Riverside county over the weekend.)

Mark