Calmer weather is helping the fight against California fires, but it won't last

AccuWeather

Unfortunately, the Santa Ana winds are expected to return before January is over, bringing wildfire risks back up in Southern California.

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00:00We are still monitoring for potential additional Santa Ana winds. It'll be very gusty early next

00:05week. To help us break down the details of where we are now, where we've been,

00:08where we're headed, we're joined now by AccuWeather California expert Ken Clark. Ken,

00:12good to see you again on this Friday. We're really looking at some pretty good improvement

00:16from the past week here among the fire crews. Well certainly so, and the weather is really

00:21helping. Started helping yesterday, really in place today. The cooler weather, the more humid

00:26weather, just perfect conditions for fighting the fires out there and getting more and more

00:31containment. We've already had 10 to 20 percent improvement from yesterday to today, and from

00:36today we'll probably add more to that. So we're looking at continued improvement over the next

00:41couple of days. So those fires are really in control right now. That's really nothing to

00:46be concerned about. And we love seeing those containment stats increase here. It seems that

00:50the uncontained areas are likely kind of the upwind, what's typically the upwind side, up into

00:55the higher ground where it's a little difficult, a little less accessible. And as we look at the

01:01forecast here over the next couple days, this weak onshore wind is going to be our friend.

01:05It is going to be our friend. It's bringing a lot of moisture off the Pacific. Relative

01:09humidities and dew points are noticeably higher than they've been. We've also got clouds around.

01:14It's kind of unusual at my place. It's actually staying cloudy this afternoon with marine clouds

01:19banked up against San Gabriel Mountains. So quite a big change from what we've had

01:24for the past 10 days with very dry air in place during that time and of course the very dry

01:30conditions for the fires. And look at the relative humidity here, Ken. Malibu Hills,

01:35at least the sensor there, I guess a lot of the data suggesting we're up around 60 percent,

01:4165 percent humidity. There's great news. Oh, it is great news. And that even extends into the lower

01:47coastal mountain slopes, too. So that's where the remains of the fire is at in those lower

01:53coastal mountain slopes. And even they are getting the humidity now. I know we're not seeing rain,

01:57but that does change the flammability of the vegetation. It kind of changes some of the,

02:03on an almost molecular level here. Water vapor is our friend. It slows the risk and

02:08reduces the risk. But we're concerned about next week once again, Ken.

02:12Unfortunately, this weather change is going to change again to the bad. We're going to definitely

02:18have an offshore flow get established by Monday, continue for much of next week. That means

02:25noticeably drier air taking over again. And it looks like two main wind threats. One sometime

02:30Monday, especially Monday night into Tuesday, and again maybe on Thursday into Thursday night.

02:37Those are kind of preliminary right now. The strength is somewhat still in question,

02:41but at least a moderate to maybe moderately strong Santa Ana is possible. Both those time periods

02:47with 40 to 60 mile per hour wind gusts at their highest in the typical places. And because of this,

02:53the National Weather Service offices in Los Angeles and San Diego have already issued their

02:57fire weather watch starting Monday morning. And we can show that to you here with that

03:01peach color that's just recently expanded all the way up into areas north of L.A.

03:05Ken, I know that it's not a slam dunk yet, but it seems to me that confidence in late this next

03:11week, the potential for rain, maybe even some mountain snow all the way down to the international

03:16border is increasing. What's your take on the latest? Yeah, the models really done an about

03:21phase for late next week by Friday or Saturday next week. We could be looking at a storm coming

03:26down from the north and perhaps producing some rain. And like you said, maybe even snow in the

03:31higher mountains. We're going to keep watch on that because that would be a very important thing

03:36to happen. I just hope it isn't too much too quick because that isn't welcome either at this point,

03:42because if we had a big rainstorm right now over the fire areas with all the ash, with all the

03:49debris and with the erosion possibilities, it would be a disaster on top of a disaster. So

03:55if we're going to get rain, let's get light amounts of rain, but nice and steady rain.

04:00And everything downhill from Altadena is highly populated. So that's a very good point there, Ken.

04:04Well, thanks for your insight all week long, all month long. We've had a lot to talk about

04:08this January. AccuWeather California expert Ken Clark. Thanks again. Thank you, Jeff.

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