It's hot, dry and windy with a high risk for wildfire in the middle of May.
A spell of critical wildfire weather that started in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday is persisting longer than expected as temperatures remain warm, humidity levels drop into the teens and dry, hot northeasterly winds knock the region's mountaintops.
Winds were blowing at 50 mph atop Mount Diablo on Monday morning with isolated gusts up to 60 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
The offshore winds blow hot air from inland areas toward the coast and are known for drying out the landscape, essentially sucking the moisture out of the vegetation and leaving it tinder-dry and vulnerable to burning.
"Fuels on the ground are at record-dry levels," said weather service forecaster Anna Schneider, referring to the dried-out condition of the trees and shrubs in the region.
Hot, dry winds blew across the Mount Diablo range Monday morning.
Yiming Chen/Getty ImagesThe National Weather Service on Sunday extended a red flag warning to Tuesday evening for the North Bay and East Bay hills and the East Bay valleys because of weather conditions that pose a risk of wildfires.
The warning was initially set to expire on Monday morning, but the weather service said conditions that include gusty north to northeast winds, low humidity and high temperatures would persist. The warning is now in effect through 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The weather service urges people to properly dispose of cigarettes and matches, keep vehicles off of dry grass, avoid using any outdoor equipment that may create sparks, and to not drag tow chains.
Marin County closed Fairfax-Bolinas Road through 6 p.m. Tuesday due to the windy conditions.
This is the first red flag warning of 2020 for the North Bay and East Bay, and it's happening earlier than usual. The last time there was a red flag warning for this region this early in the year was in 2013 amid the 2012-2016 drought.
The weather service shared water vapor imagery Sunday night on Twitter showing "that aside from some moisture across portions of the Sierra, dry air has pretty much blanketed the entire State."
This image showed the lack of cloud cover over the state. While it's not unusual for the entire state of California to have clear skies overhead, the combination of the clear skies, dangerous winds, extremely dry fuel and dry air are creating weather conditions that can spread and spark wildfires, and in May, this is unusual.
"The reason we’re having a red flag warning is the fuels," said Craig Clements, a fire meteorologist at San Jose State University. "If we had these weather conditions in March it wouldn’t be a big deal because everything would still be wet. Everything is brown right now and it’s May. If the fuels weren’t able to take fire then we wouldn’t worry about it."
Clements added that at this time of year, grass fires are of particular concern while big timber fires that rip through tens of thousands of acres will become of higher concern in coming months.
People visit Ocean Beach during the coronavirus outbreak in San Francisco, Sunday, July 5, 2020.
Jeff Chiu/Associated PressWarm temperatures are forecast to continue Monday and Tuesday with inland afternoon highs in the high 80s to low 90s and coastal highs in the 70s.
A sea breeze is expected to return Wednesday with cool air from the ocean pushing inland, and temperatures on the coast are forecast to drop into the low 60s while inland temperatures should be 5 to 10 degrees cooler than they were on Tuesday.
Thursday and Friday are forecast to mark a return to more seasonable pattern with a marine layer — yes, the fog will return — hugging the coast and low clouds pushing inland in the night and morning. Inland highs are forecast to fall back into the 70s with coast and bayfront areas in the 60s.
May 11, 2021 at 12:48AM
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/2021-05-red-flag-warning-North-East-Bay-16165137.php
Hot, dry, windy conditions persist in Bay Area: Where's the fog? - SF Gate
https://news.google.com/search?q=dry&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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