Whittier Fire was very active Sunday, but was slowed overnight by high humidity

Whittier Fire

Above: Whittier Fire, looking west from Santa Ynez Peak at 5:53 a.m. PDT July 10, 2017.

(Originally published at 6:25 a.m. PDT July 10, 2017)

The Whittier Fire was very active all day Sunday and into the evening and as of 10:30 p.m. a mapping aircraft observed intense heat along most of the perimeter. The exception was the north side near Lake Cachuma and the lower slopes along San Marcos Pass Road.

Sunday night after midnight the relative humidity at Santa Ynez and Los Prietos climbed into the 60s and 70s and by dawn some of the cameras on Santa Ynez Peak captured what looked like either fog or smoked trapped in a valley inversion.

map Whittier Fire
Map of the Whittier Fire showing the perimeter acquired from an aircraft at 10:30 p.m. PDT July 9, 2017. Click to enlarge.

The Incident Management Team announced Monday morning the fire has burned 10,823 acres. Evacuations are still in effect and San Marcos Pass Road, Highway 154, is closed.

The weather forecast for the fire area on Monday is moderate by fire behavior standards. Temperatures on the north side of the fire near Lake Cachuma should be in the low 80s, the relative humidity in the low 40s, and a sea breeze will be southeast to southwest at 7 to 9 mph with gusts up to 14.

map Whittier Fire 3-D
3-D map of the Whittier Fire showing the perimeter acquired from an aircraft at 10:30 p.m. PDT July 9, 2017.
Whittier Fire
Looking north from Santa Ynez Peak at 5:53 a.m. PDT July 10, 2017.

All of the articles we have written about the fire are tagged “Whittier Fire” and can be found here, with the most recent at the top.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

4 thoughts on “Whittier Fire was very active Sunday, but was slowed overnight by high humidity”

  1. Thanks for putting up this site. Our Grandson is on a hand crew fighting the Whittier fire, so we keep going to this site. He texted us this morning before they went back out. Got some sleep after a 24 hr shift

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