San Clemente Fire Weather Watch Continues Through Weekend

SAN CLEMENTEE, CA — It's been five straight days of red flag warnings for southern California, signifying a high danger of wildfires stemming from strong, gusty winds and very low humidity will be in force in much of the Southland. Those warnings have extended again, now through the weekend, according to NWS meteorologist Curt Kaplan said.

The red flag warnings will be in effect until 8 p.m. Sunday in the following areas: All of Orange County; San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains, the Angeles National Forest; the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel valleys; L.A. County beach cities, metropolitan Los Angeles, Downtown L.A., the Hollywood Hills; Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Wind gusts of between 40 and 60 miles per hour are expected Friday, along with humidity levels of between 6 and 10 percent, National Weather Service forecasters said.

Forecasters had said the Santa Ana windstorm that began Tuesday would likely be the strongest and longest so far this season, which runs from late September through April. The red flag warnings were initially scheduled to last until late Thursday, but the expiration was pushed back -- first to Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday.

The National Weather Service forecast a combination of sunshine and smoke in Orange County and highs of 73 in Laguna Beach; 74 in San Clemente; 75 in Newport Beach; 79 in Yorba Linda; and 81 in Fullerton, Anaheim, Irvine and Mission Viejo.No rain is expected for at least 10 days, Kaplan said.

The NWS forecast sunny skies Friday and highs of 66 degrees in Lancaster; 67 in Palmdale and on Mount Wilson; 75 in Saugus and Avalon; 80 in San Gabriel and at LAX; and 82 in Downtown L.A., Long Beach, Pasadena, Burbank and Woodland Hills.

Temperatures in parts of L.A. County, including Downtown and the San Fernando Valley, are running around 12 degrees above normal, while in the Antelope Valley they're about seven degrees above average, Kaplan said, attributing the heat to a strong upper ridge and an offshore flow.

4-day Forecast for San Clemente

Today, mostly cloudy starting this evening.

Saturday December 9

Partly cloudy until evening. High 76, low 56.
Chance of precipitation: 6%. Wind 7 mph from the NE

Sunday December 10

Partly cloudy throughout the day. High 77, low 59.
Chance of precipitation: 8%. Wind 11 mph from the NE

Monday December 11

Partly cloudy throughout the day. High 76, low 60.
Chance of precipitation: 6%. Wind 6 mph from the NNE

Tuesday December 12

Clear throughout the day. High 76, low 55.
Chance of precipitation: 3%. Wind 4 mph from the N
Data provided by darksky.net.

City of Laguna Beach Fire Department