Warm, Dry Conditions with Onshore Flow Creating 'Elevated Fire Danger' in SGV

LOS ANGELES, CA — Warm, dry conditions combined with onshore winds will create an elevated danger of wildfire in interior sections of the Southland on Monday, National Weather Service forecasters said.

A southwesterly onshore flow will peak Monday 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 on Monday, along with highs of 75 degrees Fahrenheit at LAX; 78 in Avalon; 82 in downtown L.A.; 84 in Long Beach; 86 on Mount Wilson; 87 in San Gabriel; 88 in Burbank; 90 in Pasadena; 91 in Saugus; 93 in Palmdale and Lancaster; and 94 in Woodland Hills.

Sunny skies were forecast in Orange County, along with highs of 75 in Newport Beach and San Clemente; 78 in Laguna Beach; 81 in Anaheim; 82 in Irvine and Mission Viejo; 83 in Fullerton; and 87 in Yorba Linda.

In both counties, roughly similar temperatures will prevail over the coming days.

Monday'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."

— City News Service, photo via Shutterstock