Gusty winds to return and reignite fire risk across California

While California residents continue to wait for an unusually late start to the wet season, a period of gusty winds will increase the fire threat across parts of the state.

A storm system moving into the northwestern United States on Friday will bring areas of rain and mountain snow to the region.

Late on Friday and into the weekend this storm system will drop south through the Rocky Mountains, where it can bring accumulating snow to some of the higher peaks.

As this storm continues to sink south on Saturday, an area of high pressure will build into the Northwest.

This will cause northeasterly winds to increase across Northern and Central California on Saturday.

Wind gusts during the Diablo event are expected to reach between 20 and 40 mph, especially in the northeast- to southwest-oriented mountain passes.

By Saturday night the high is forecast to slide southwest toward the Great Basin and winds in Northern California will begin to decrease.

Meanwhile, gusts across Southern California will begin to increase as a Santa Ana wind event develops.

Wind gusts are expected to peak between 35 to 55 mph in the northeast- to southwest-oriented mountain passes and canyons before gradually tapering off into Monday.

As is typical with an offshore wind events, conditions across the region will begin to trend warmer throughout the weekend.

"Winds with this event will be weaker than the past couple of Santa Ana events," stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Max Gawryla. "But any gusty winds coupled with the prevailing dry conditions can increase the fire threat across the region."

As dry conditions continue across the region, any spark can set a fire and gusty winds can help to spread any new and existing fires faster. This threat will loom over the region until the wet season starts.

The wet season in California typically runs from Oct. 1 to May 1, but residents across the state are still waiting for the first drops of relief.

"The 2019-2020 season will likely be the third latest start to the wet season as rain-free conditions look to continue into this weekend," added Gawryla.

There is potential for some rain to gather in California next week.

"The extent of this rain is uncertain at this time as it may depend on which branch of the jet stream becomes the dominant factor," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

A more active northern branch may spread rain into part of Northern California, but on the other hand a more active southern branch may pump rain into Southern California and allow a storm with tropical moisture to form nearby.

"It's premature to promise any significant rainfall this far out," Sosnowski said. "However, the latest long-range forecasts are indicating some opportunities for rain compared to those during much of the autumn to this point."

At this point even days with cloud cover, light winds, lower temperatures and higher humidity levels would be a big help for fire suppression and firefighting efforts.

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