Fire weather conditions to hit SCV

Gusty Santa Ana winds and low relative humidity are expected to bring fire weather conditions to the Santa Clarita Valley this weekend.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Fire Weather Watch for the area from Saturday night to Monday afternoon due to the potential for extreme fire danger and fire behavior.

“Surface high pressure will build into the Great Basin this weekend, bringing the potential for a moderate to locally strong Santa Ana wind event Saturday night into Monday,” the NWS said. “While the Santa Ana winds will affect much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, the strongest winds will be focused across the valleys and mountains where there will be the greatest threat of rapid fire spread and large fire growth.”

The strongest winds are expected to occur Saturday night and into Sunday as winds reach 20 to 30 miles per hour (mph) and gusts reach up to 45 mph in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Humidity for the area is also expected to reach minimums between 10 and 20 percent Sunday and Monday, according to the NWS.

“The combination of strong winds, low humidity, warm temperatures and dry fuels will potentially bring critical fire weather conditions,” the NWS said. “Any new fire ignitions will have the potential for large growth with rapid fire spread.”

Temperatures are also expected to increase this weekend, as the Saturday forecast expects temperatures to reach highs around 70 degrees and lows in the upper-40s to mid-50s.

On Sunday, forecasted highs are expected to remain in the high-70s to low-80s and lows are expected to be in the lower to mid-50s.

The heat is expected to continue throughout Monday and Tuesday, before slightly cooling off throughout the remainder of the week.