Santa Ana Winds Bring Elevated Fire Risk To San Diego County

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA — Santa Ana winds will sweep through San Diego County Wednesday, bringing warmer temperatures and a heightened risk of wildfires, according to the National Weather Service.

The winds out of the northeast are expected to be between 20-30 mph in the mountains, western valleys and deserts Wednesday, with gusts potentially reaching 45 mph in the mountains Wednesday afternoon, forecasters said. Wind speeds will remain tame in coastal areas on Wednesday, with gusts expected to top out at 25 mph.

A wind advisory will be in effect until 3 p.m. Wednesday in the mountains and western valleys.

The advisory warns that high wind speeds could blow down tree limbs and knock down power lines, potentially causing outages.

Relative humidity will drop to between 5-10% on Wednesday, forecasters said.

The gusty winds and low humidity will increase the risk of wildfires significantly on Wednesday, but fuels remain green in most of San Diego County, which should help to mitigate the danger, according to the NWS.

Highs temperatures on Wednesday are expected to be in the low-80s to low-90s in coastal areas, the high-80s to low-90s in the western valleys, the high-70s to low-80s near the foothills, the mid-60s to low-70s in the mountains and the low- to high-80s in the deserts.

Conditions will continue warming in most areas through Saturday, then cooling begins throughout the county on Sunday, forecasters said.

— City News Service