Red Flag Warning 11/5 – 11/7

A Red Flag Warning is in effect from 1100h Tuesday morning, November 5, to 0700h Thursday morning, November 7. Gusty winds and critically dry conditions lead to increased fire risk and chance of rapid spread.

Be careful and report any fire activity by calling 911. If phone service is not available use your radios on CMD31 or CMD31D if the repeater is down or you cannot reach the repeater. Everyone please monitor CMD31.

From https://www.weather.gov/mtr/

Strong north to northeast winds are being observed across the region as a deep trough moves over the Rockies. These dry offshore winds are causing the dew point and relative humidity to quickly drop. Despite the recent rain, regional RAWS stations are reporting 10- hour fuel moistures have dropped back into the single digits and continuing to dry. By Tuesday night, encroaching high pressure from the Eastern Pacific will tighten the gradient and strengthen the winds. Gusts are expected to reach up to 50 mph across the higher elevations with RH recoveries in the 30-45% range Tuesday night. Winds will gradually decrease through the day Wednesday, but with the RH dropping into the high teens, fire weather conditions will remain critical through Wednesday night.

• AFFECTED AREA… Fire Weather Zone 006 San Francisco, Fire Weather Zone 502 Marin Coastal Range, Fire Weather Zone 503 Sonoma Coastal Range, Fire Weather Zone 504 North Bay Interior Mountains, Fire Weather Zone 506 North Bay Interior Valleys, Fire Weather Zone 508 San Francisco Bay Shoreline, Fire Weather Zone 509 San Francisco Peninsula Coast, Fire Weather Zone 510 East Bay Interior Valleys, Fire Weather Zone 512 Santa Cruz Mountains, Fire Weather Zone 513 Santa Clara Valley Including San Jose, Fire Weather Zone 514 Eastern Santa Clara Hills, Fire Weather Zone 515 East Bay Hills, Fire Weather Zone 517 Santa Lucia Mountains and Los Padres National Forest, Fire Weather Zone 518 Mountains of San Benito County And Interior Monterey County including Pinnacles National Park and Fire Weather Zone 529 Northern Monterey Bay.
• TIMING… 11 AM Tuesday until 7 AM Thursday.
• WINDS… North 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph.
• RELATIVE HUMIDITY… As low as 14 percent.
• LIGHTNING… None.
• IMPACTS… The combination of gusty winds and low humidity can cause fire to rapidly grow in size and intensity. Outdoor burning is not recommended. Despite recent wetting rain, we are expecting a widespread and prolonged offshore wind event which will dry fuels out very quickly.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now…or will shortly. A combination of strong winds…low relative humidity…and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.