The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Central Sierra Nevada and the Central Sierra Nevada Foothills, now through 5 PM Monday. A Red Flag Warning has also been issued for the Mother Lode, the Stanislaus National Forest and the Northern San Joaquin Valley from 5 PM this afternoon through 11 AM Monday.
A northerly surge of monsoonal moisture today through Monday will provide a favorable environment for thunderstorm development in the mountains and the central valley, along with a high fire danger.
Scattered thunderstorms with little or no rainfall, could be accompanied by an abundant amount of cloud to ground lightning.
The combination of parched fuels and dry lightning could easily ignite new fires within the Warning area.
Gusty and erratic winds up to forty mph are possible in the vicinity of thunderstorms. A combination of the winds and the terrain could cause the rapid spread of new and existing fires.
A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly. A combination of extremely dry fuels, gusty erratic winds and lightning associated with thunderstorms can result in extreme fire behavior.
This post was last modified on 07/18/2021 4:11 pm