'Earliest Springtime Red Flag Waning' Issued As Northern California Fire Risk Rises
LOS ANGELES (AP/CBS13) — The National Weather Service Sacramento on Friday issued its "earliest springtime Red Flag Warning" and warned of weekend fire danger from Sacramento to Redding driven by strong winds, low humidity, and "a mosaic of dry fuels."
The warning would be in effect from 5 a.m. Saturday to 5 p.m. Sunday. The conditions may make it easier for fires to start and spread.
According to the NWS Sacramento, "a Red Flag Warning is issued for weather events which may result in extreme fire behavior that will occur within 24 hours."
Decades-old daily heat records were broken across the region Friday, including in Sacramento and Stockton.
It follows a wave of hot, dry air that has gripped much of California for several days, with heat records also broken or tied up and down the state on Thursday. But forecasters said the weekend would bring a significant drop in temperature for much of the state, setting the stage for possible rain early next week.
Even the coastline baked under the sun. One of the new records was a high of 100 degrees (37.7 Celsius) at Long Beach on the south Los Angeles County coast, the National Weather Service said. The old record was 93 (33.8 Celsius) set in 1989.
Similar temperatures were expected through Friday in the Central Valley and Southern California while signs of the cool-down were expected in the San Francisco Bay Area, where temperatures were not expected to mirror Thursday's highs.
The ridge of high pressure responsible for the heatwave will weaken and move east during the weekend, forecasters said. Cooler air will arrive on Monday and Tuesday as an area of low pressure arrives along with possible rain and mountain snow.
