SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY – The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a red flag warning, effective from January 7 to January 9, stating that “strong winds, very dry air, and critically dry fuels will create dangerous fire weather conditions.”
The NWS says a red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly.
According to the warning there will be northeast winds 20 to 40 mph with gusts 50 to 65 mph in the Inland Empire, strongest below the Cajon Pass. This includes the cities of Ontario, Fontana, San Bernardino, Moreno Valley, Rancho Cucamonga, Corona, and Riverside.
In addition there will be northeast winds 30 to 50 mph with gusts up to 75 mph on the coastal slopes of the San Bernardino County mountains which includes the cities of Crestline, Running Springs, and Lake Arrowhead.
Strongest winds and driest conditions will occur on Wednesday.
Winds will weaken Wednesday afternoon, but remain elevated with gusts of 40 to 55 mph into Thursday and strongest on the mountain foothills and near the Cajon Pass.
43,3079 SoCal households under consideration for power shutoff
Southern California Edison (SCE) has declared a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) to prevent fires for 16,974 households in Southern California, however, an additional 43,3079 households are under consideration.
SCE says they base PSPS decisions on data gathered from fire scientists and meteorologists forecasting dangerous wildfire conditions, and on real-time information from their crews in the field.
SCE customers can view the Outage Map to check the status of power outages in their area by visiting https://www.sce.com/outage-center/check-outage-status
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