Santa Ana winds to bring critical fire weather over Thanksgiving holiday
Santa Ana winds of up to 70 mph will arrive on Thanksgiving and Saturday morning to bring severe fire weather across the Central Coast and Northern California. They could produce more than 4,000 lightning strikes, hundreds of Santa Ana fires, wind chill temperatures in the triple digits and more than 2,000 embers that ignite into the dangerous wildfires we’ve seen this fall and into the holidays.
The forecast comes to us through the NOAA/NWS High-Resolution Rapid Refresh-Directional Infrared Satellite (HRRR-DIRS) model, which is the best available model to predict the Santa Ana winds. The NOAA/NWS High-Resolution Rapid Refresh-Directional Infrared Satellite (HRRR-DIRS) model has a record of being able to predict Santa Ana fires with a 98% success over the last three years. That means that if in the current model run, we have a 98% chance that we get Santa Ana fires on Thanksgiving and Saturday, that is the confidence level we are taking with us when we make our forecast.
Santa Ana winds of up to 70 mph will arrive on Thanksgiving and Saturday morning to bring severe fire weather across the Central Coast and Northern California. They could produce more than 4,000 lightning strikes, hundreds of Santa Ana fires, wind chill temperatures in the triple digits and more than 2,000 embers that ignite into the dangerous wildfires we’ve seen this fall and into the holidays.
The forecast comes to us through the NOAA/NWS High-Resolution Rapid Refresh-Directional Infrared Satellite (HRRR-DIRS) model, which is the best available model to predict the Santa Ana winds. The NOAA/NWS High-Resolution Rapid Refresh-Directional Infrared Satellite (HRRR-DIRS) model has a record of being able to predict Santa Ana fires with a 98% success over the last three years. That means that if in the current model run, we have a 98% chance that we get Santa Ana fires on Thanksgiving and Saturday, that is the confidence level we are taking