Worrisome Fire Conditions Continue Throughout San Diego County

Strong winds and dry conditions continued to raise the risk of wildfires in San Diego County's mountains and inland valleys today, meteorologists said.

Red Flag Warnings remained up until 6 p.m. today for the valleys and mountain areas, including the Palomar and Descanso ranger districts of the Cleveland National Forest.

"Strong surface pressure over the Great Basin will force moderate to locally strong Santa Ana Winds through and below the passes and canyons of Southern California today," a National Weather Service warning said. "These strong winds combined with low humidity will elevate the wildfire danger."

Northeast winds of 20-30 mph are expected through this evening with gusts of up to 55 mph. NWS forecasters expected the lowest daytime relative humidity to be around 10 percent.

"A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are occurring or expected," the NWS said. "This in combination with dry fuels could create extreme fire danger and/or fire behavior."

The winds are expected to gradually weaken today and through Monday, however, forecasters said the warm and dry conditions would stick around through Tuesday. --City News Service