Extreme weather cocktail in Southern California prompts rare 'particularly dangerous' red flag warnings
An unusual combination of weather conditions are culminating in an extreme fire danger across Southern California, one that prompted the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue urgent red flag warnings, which called the setup “a particularly dangerous situation” in the Los Angeles mountains – a rare warning issued by the NWS. The NWS warned that the tinder dry conditions with relative humidity expected to drop off into the single digits and potentially damaging winds that will howl at 60 to 75 mph will stir up "the most dangerous fire weather conditions since October 2019" in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The culprit behind the strong winds blasting portions of California and the Southwest will be a massive storm system that unleashed wintry weather across the Rockies and Plains, bringing brutally cold air, as well as pockets of snow and ice.
It's already been a long wildfire season as fires have broken records for the largest fires ever recorded in both California and Colorado state history, and relentless fires across the West have led to persistent, poor air quality and choking smoky conditions at times. More recently, two wildfires in northern Colorado have added to the destruction as they exploded in size this past week. Heavy snow now moving through northern Colorado will help to quell these large fires, but may also make it more difficult for firefighters to navigate the terrain to continue battling the fires. As the cold and snow pushes south, so will the highest fire threat. Parts of northern Nevada, Utah and Colorado that experienced fire weather Saturday got a reprieve on Sunday, while much of the southern Rockies and Desert Southwest experienced another day of high fire risk. Monday, the most extreme fire risk will shift its attention back to California. Offshore winds will roar both Monday and Tuesday, locally known as Santa Ana or Diablo winds. Widespread wind gusts of 40-60 mph are expected in the mountains and passes of both Northern and Southern California, as well as the upper and lower deserts in Southern California. Some of the strongest gusts of 60-80 mph will be in the western foothills of the northern Sierra, as well as around the "North Bay Hills" north of San Francisco and in the mountains around Los Angeles as well. In parts of the interior Southwest on Monday, winds can also gust to 60 to 80 mph. An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ gust of 100 mph can occur in some of the typically windiest mountain areas of the Southwest and California. This can lead to extremely fast-moving fires that are extremely difficult for firefighters to control.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/extreme-weather-cocktail-in-southern-california-prompts-rare-particularly-dangerous-red-flag-warnings/837518
Hmm, wanting to stop people from voting..interesting.