With many residents in the United States cranking up snow blowers and digging out of the Polar Vortex deep freeze, it is hard for some of us to visualize the Red Flag Warning that parts of southern California could experience today. North to northeast Santa Ana winds are predicted for Sunday until noon on Monday with local gusts exceeding 65 mph, and up to 75 mph below the Cajon Pass and along the coastal slopes of the Santa Ana Mountains. Weaker northeast winds will continue Monday night into Tuesday.
As you can see in the forecast for Corona, California above, the winds are expected to peak in that area Sunday afternoon with sustained speeds of 29 mph and gusts up to 53 mph, along with a relative humidity of 6 percent.
The near-real-time Red Flag conditions at multiple weather stations can be monitored at the NWS’ Red Flag Monitor website.
Many of this web site readers have probably spent more than one Thanksgiving in fire camp ( O.K.-incident base), if you have been in the fire business for a few decades. The Thanksgiving Santa Ana’s seem to be the stronger and more turbulent (wind) than any other time of year? Or another way of saying it is stay on the ground and keep out of their way.