Although the geological formations of the Santa Clarita Valley lead to many wind advisory and wildfire warnings for the region, meteorologists have said that the most recent notice of high winds through Sunday afternoon will not lead to further fire danger over the weekend.
On Saturday, the National Weather Service released a statement that reported northwest to north winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph could be seen later on Saturday, and heading into Sunday afternoon.
“It’s kind of a continuation of what we’ve seen most of the winter,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “We get storms that pass to the north of us that really don’t bring us any precipitation, but they cause the wind patterns to change in favorable directions to bring us wind.”
Due to the mountainous valley ranges around the Santa Clarita Valley, along with the Interstate 5 corridor acting as an accelerant for these types of events, the community has been subject to a number of wind advisories over the last few months.
However, because of the current humidity levels, a red flag warning concerning the risk of wildfire this weekend will be unlikely, Wofford said.
“We’re not really concerned from a fire/weather standpoint because, at least right now, the humidities are not too high,” said Wofford. “Tomorrow, the (wind speed) will be a little bit lower, and probably won’t have the duration that meets red flag criteria.”
Wofford added that another weather system similar to the one the SCV is currently experiencing has been projected to reach the area from Wednesday through Friday.
“Gusty winds will make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. This includes Interstate 5 and Highways 14 and 126,” the NWS statement said “Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.”
