Dry weather creates wildfire risk

After a brief reprieve late last week, dry Santa Ana conditions have returned and put a large portion of Southern California in danger of wildfires again, according to the National Weather Service. Newport Beach and Costa Mesa are under a red-flag fire danger warning until 6 p.m.

Humidity is at 10% to 15% throughout coastal Orange County, weather service forecaster Stan Wasowski said. Persistent Santa Ana winds and a shortage of rain have robbed a wide area of moisture.

“It’s been dry for three months,” Wasowski said. “We don’t even have 40% of normal rain. It’s more like 30 or 20.”

The warning expires tonight. The winds, averaging 8 mph, may die out on Thursday and humidity should rise.

But don’t expect rain any time soon, Wasowski said. The weather service is predicting clear skies through the weekend.

Fire conditions are likely to return in the near future, Wasowski said.

“A lot of times, the conditions will die down and we’ll get some rain after a week or two,” he said.

“But some years the offshore winds [Santa Anas] persist all the way through the season. It looks like one of those years.”

Temperatures are predicted to be at seasonal averages this week: 60s in the daytime and mid-40s at night. Waves are expected to be 2 to 4 feet high today and tomorrow.