Oct 12, 2008 12:33 pm US/Pacific
Dry Winds Prompt Red Flag Warning For SoCal
LOS ANGELES
A tail of smoke and ash extends from Kagel Canyon west and south all the way to Malibu and then out to sea Sunday, as Southern California copes with a Red Flag Warning and a 750-acre brushfire at the northeast end of the San Fernando Valley.
A wind gust of 51 miles per hour was clocked between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. at a measuring station in the mountains about 10 miles north of Pacoima. The National Weather Service put the red flag up over the San Gabriel, San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys early Sunday, as winds grew.
The early-morning winds Sunday were cool and moist, and were the result of a low pressure front that swept across California quickly starting Saturday night. The Weather Service said humidity readings in the area are still high, but will drop as desert air blows towards the ocean, and as that air mass compresses as it is squeezed through mountains and canyons Sunday night.
Fire weather conditions are expected to worsen during the day and Monday, as the large high pressure system builds over Nevada and the Four Corners region. Mountain areas will see gusts of 55 miles per hour, and coastal canyon winds should top out at 50 mph as the day progresses, the Weather Service warned.
Residents of a broad swath of the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles awoke to the smell of smoke and the sight of ash Sunday, as well.
The City of Los Angeles had not, as of 11 a.m., activated parking bans in red flag zones in the Hollywood Hills.
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