Santa Ana winds not an issue this weekend

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Clouds and cooler weather moved into the region today, courtesy of tropical moisture traveling northeast from the Pacific Ocean, said Dan Atkin, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in San Diego. No Santa Ana winds are forecast until later next week, and are predicted to be moderate, Atkin said.

In San Diego and Orange counties today winds are “light and variable, a little weak,” at around 5 miles per hour, Atkin said.

The light winds will change direction Sunday, bringing slightly warmer, drier weather to Orange and San Diego counties, meteorologists said.

Those winds from the northeast could push against the fire and might allow crews to fight it from the front.

“Hopefully, this will give us a chance to do a little more of a direct attack,” Berglund said late this morning. “With the winds coming from the opposite direction, that will slow the fire as it reaches the ridgetop” that divides the two counties. Those same winds could also create drier conditions before moister air returns Tuesday, when firefighters may wake up to a marine layer and higher humidity.

A few raindrops fell today in the Santiago Canyon area of Orange County. “Everyone was saying, ‘Hey, we feel raindrops,’ but we didn’t see it on the ground,” said fire information officer Tom Berglund.

Go to the National Weather Service website for updated forecasts for Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.
--Deborah Schoch