Those low-lying clouds and dense fog along our coast this morning isn’t going to get any better. In fact, it looks to be giving way to unstable weather that could increase the risk of wildfires.
You know what we’re really saying here, right? Remember two short weeks ago when we had freak thunderstorms with lightning that caused fires in places like Riverside, Corona and Palm Springs? It’s going to happen again, says the National Weather Service—today.
Widely scattered thunderstorms are predicted today that could produce a dangerous combination of dry lightning and gusty winds. There’s nothing a small fire likes better than a bit of gusty wind to really get it going. And the perfect fuel? All that hillside vegetation that’s been drying out in this last week’s sun.
Red Flag warnings for fire danger have been raised in the interior valleys up north in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties and the Antelope Valley, but also down here in Ventura and Los Angeles counties in the mountains. There’s also a “Hazardous Weather Outlook” warning that covers the entire state, barring the central area of Sacramento and surrounding areas, and don’t forget about the dangers of flash flooding from those thunderstorms.
What’s causing this is a low-pressure system coming up from Baja, California and it has a name: Hilary. No, not our Secretary of State, but Hurricane Hilary, a storm emerged on Sunday as a broad low-pressure system, moving up to a tropical storm category on Wednesday, and yesterday finally got its strength up to the hurricane level, according to the National Hurricane Center, yesterday morning.
Although it moved away from the Pacific coast of Mexico this morning, forecasts are still predicting that it will hit the Baja peninsula, but probably not til next week. There hasn’t been any damage so far, nor are they forecasting that it will affect Southern California more detrimentally than the thunderstorms today and over the weekend.
So please, be on alert for the dry lightning strikes and make sure to call the emergency services if you see any fires starting. Make sure your family is aware for their safety, and don’t forget to let your work associates know, especially if you’re in the Inland Empire area, which is more likely to be affected by the lightning.
If your home or business is affected by either fire or flooding over the weekend, don’t forget that we are here 24/7 to help you. Call us on (877) 732-8471 or click here to use our online form. We’ll help get your home or commercial property back to its original state quickly, efficiently and with as little hassle for you as possible.