Mountain areas under red flag warning for high fire danger
The warning, which affects areas of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, stems from a low-pressure system moving in from the north, bringing dry winds and lower humidity.
The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning of high fire danger for the mountain areas of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
The red flag warning will be in place until noon for the mountains and Santa Barbara County's south coast and until 7 p.m. for the Antelope Valley.
As of this morning, no red flag warnings had been issued for Orange County or the Inland Empire.
Red flag warnings are triggered by dry, windy weather conditions that increase the risk of wildfires. This morning, a low-pressure weather system is moving into the Los Angeles area from the north, bringing dry winds and lower humidity expected to last until the system moves east Saturday night, said Bonnie Bartling, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Winds of 25 to 40 mph are expected to gust up to 60 mph through canyons and passes as relative humidity drops to 15%, according to National Weather Service forecasts. In the Antelope Valley, winds are expected to gust up to 40 or 50 mph through Friday afternoon.
On Sunday, just as the winds move to the east, seasonal Santa Ana winds are expected to pick up from the northeast as a high-pressure weather system moves into the area from Nevada, Bartling said.
Bartling said the warnings are not unusual for this time of year.
"This is the season when the Santa Ana winds will start up," she said.
Although it has been a dry year, the wildfire risk is tempered by added rainfall, Bartling said. Since January, downtown Los Angeles received 9.77 inches of rain, compared with 2.42 inches this time last year and a 30-year average for the same period of 11.90 inches.
molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com
