Fires remain active in California; however, the Santa Ana wind event is over, according to the Predictive Services Group at the National Interagency Coordination Center. This will help the firefighters who continue to work toward containment goals on the 11 large fires in southern California. The Magic, Buckweed, and Rosa fires were all contained yesterday.

A cold front moving through the western states, bringing cooler Canadian air to the area. at remains serious due to ongoing fires and locally variable wind speeds and directions in areas of steep terrain. Fire Weather Outlooks for the next eight days are posted by the Storm Prediction Center in Norman Oklahoma.

Outlook for Today - Click to enlarge

Outlook for Tomorrow - Click to enlarge

Smoke continues to poses health concerns across southern California. The Environmental Protection Agency national air quality outlook calls for Unhealthy Particle Pollution Levels in southern California through at least Friday. National Weather Service Air Quality Guidance provides tools used by Federal and State Air Quality forecasters. Information on health threats from smoke is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

NOAA Satellite and Information Service (NESDIS) images of the fire areas show smoke plumes extending well out to sea over the Pacific. Additional images are arcihved on NOAA's Operational Significant Event Imagery site.

NOAA's National Weather Service Incident Meteorologists are on the ground in Southern California providing localized forecasts to support firefighting efforts. This on-site weather support helps ensure fire crew safety and provides tactical information to the fire management team.

In addition to the incident meteorologists, local Weather Forecast Offices are providing critical weather information, spot forecasts, briefings and other forecast information to fire crews and emergency managers.

Additional Information on the California Wildfires from USA.gov

What are Santa Ana winds?

During the fall and early winter, high pressure over the high desert of the Great Basin region causes winds on the southern side of the high to blow east, toward the Pacific Ocean and lower air pressure offshore. The eastern winds push dry air from the inland deserts of California and the Southwest over the mountains between coastal California and the deserts.

As the air descends from mountains, it is compressed and the temperatures increase. These hot, and very dry winds(relative humidty of 10 to 20% or lower are common) dry out vegetation, increasing the fuel available to feed fires. The gusty winds and eddies of winds swirling through canyons and valleys also fan flames and spread tinders.

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