Dry and windy weather to continue through Friday! Critical fire weather conditions across
northwest Arizona today will spread across most of northern Arizona Friday as stronger
winds develop.
A WIND ADVISORY remains in effect until 3 AM PDT Friday for the Kern County Mountains and
Deserts. Blowing dust is possible with the strongest gusts. Visibilities can drop quickly
and suddenly. Use caution when driving in gusty winds!
A Red Flag Warning remains in effect across central Nevada from noon today through 9 PM
this evening. Gusty winds and low humidity are expected to create conditions ripe for
rapid fire growth. Isolated lighting strikes are also possible.
Tune into NOAA weather radio or keep checking www.weather.gov/elko and Facebook for
updates.
Gusty northwest to north winds will increase this afternoon across the Santa Ynez mountain
range and the adjacent Santa Barbara south coast wind prone passes and canyons. Expect
wind gusts between 35 and 50 mph, strongest above Gaviota and the foothills above
Montecito. As the winds push down across the Santa Ynez range, warming will occur across
portions of the Santa Barbara south coast, especially towards the evening when high
temperatures could spike upward up to 15 degrees within a few hours. Winds will continue
through the overnight hours into Friday morning. There could be another round of
Sundowner winds for Friday evening into early Saturday morning as well.
Mainly clear skies and light winds tonight into early Friday morning will allow
temperatures to tumble. Low temperatures will fall below freezing in the Klamath Basin
and Tulelake Area, while the potential exists for frost to form in the Shasta Valley and
outlying areas of the Rogue, Illinois, and Applegate Valleys with lows in the low- to
mid-30s. Take action to protect sensitive vegetation or bring plants inside.
This is a graphic of the expected river level on the Okanogan River near Tonasket. Keep
track of the latest situation on this river at;
http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=otx&gage=tonw1
For details on the partial solar eclipse, check out the following NASA article using your
Internet browser:
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/15may_sunday/
The NWS Medford office has information on the partial solar eclipse as well:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mfr/skywarn/AnnularEclipse2012.pdf
An area of low pressure moving through the Western United States Friday will lead to
multiple hazardous impacts for the Southwest region. First, winds will increase
throughout the day from the west and southwest, possibly gusting as high as 30 to 40 mph
through parts of central and eastern Arizona. These strong winds coupled with low
relative humidity values and dry fuels will result in Dangerous Fire Weather conditions
for locations around the Phoenix metropolitan area, as well as higher terrain across
eastern Arizona, including the Tonto National Forest.
Critical fire weather conditions will develop this afternoon and evening. An area of low
pressure will push a cold front through the area on this evening, ahead of the front
winds will gust to 45 mph as relative humidity drops to 5-15 percent. The graphic above
indicates the areas where the red flag warning is in effect in red which includes: The
Western Nevada Sierra Front and West Central Nevada Basin and Range, Mineral and Southern
Lyon Counties, and Mono and Eastern Alpine Counties below 8500 feet. The hatched area in
the graphic surrounding I-80 indicates the area where dry lightning is possible. North of
the red flag warning moisture associated with the cold front will raise relative humidity
but winds will remain gusty. For more information please refer to the Red Flag Warning
at http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/rev/.
An approaching low pressure trough will bring strong gusty westerly winds to the mountains
and deserts late this afternoon and tonight. There will also be a cooling trend today
through Friday.
Strong winds have developed as showers spread across the state.
Strong winds in the vicinity of showers will continue into this evening.
Showers will produce little rain. Isolated thunderstorms are possible.
These showers are often referred to as microbursts. For an explanation of microbursts,
refer to the following page: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/microbursts.php
Spring weather will continue over Northern California through Friday. A weak weather
system will cross the region bringing cooler temperatures and a chance for late day
thunderstorms over the higher terrain. Dry warmer weather returns for the weekend.
Skies will be mostly clear for Sundays annular solar eclipse. Eclipse info may be found
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html
A Red Flag Warning will be in effect Friday 11am until 8pm for Graham, Greenlee, Cochise,
Santa Cruz, eastern Pima, and eastern Pinal counties. A low pressure system will pass to
the north of southeastern Arizona and will bring increased winds to our region. Strong
and gusty winds combined with low relative humidity and high to very high fire danger
rating across our region can lead to extreme fire behavior.
Gusty southwest to west winds are expected in the eastern slopes of the southern Sierra
Nevada, the Owens Valley, the White Mountains of Inyo County and the Fish Lake Valley
this afternoon and evening. The strongest winds will mainly be between 4 PM and 10 PM.
Gusts of 60 to 70 mph are expected with the strongest gusts near canyon openings and on
exposed ridgetops. Watch for strong crosswinds on Highway 395 from near Bishop to
Pearsonville and on Highway 264 near Dyer.
Gusty winds will develop over the area this afternoon into this evening with a passing
trough of low pressure. The strongest winds will be over the mountains and deserts during
the early evening hours. Winds will slowly subside late tonight. Note: See TAFs for the
latest forecast and impacts.
