Good morning, Central Coast!
I want to start off with a look at fire weather conditions around the Gifford Fire.
Here is the fire and smoke map of the Gifford fire from 7 a.m. Tuesday morning.
As of 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, 72,460 acres have been burned, and containment is up slightly, now at 7%.
Overnight crews worked with calmer and cooler conditions to create dozer lines and strengthen existing fire lines. As we push into the daytime hours Tuesday, fire weather danger is increasing with warm, windy, and dry conditions. It is going to be a tricky day for fire fighting.
Today will be hot, dry, and windy. All that combines to a high fire risk and tricky fire weather.
I expect relative humidity to fall to 15%, which, combined with 25+ mph winds, will be conducive for rapid fire growth. For the rest of the week, we will face much warmer weather with temps expected to peak on Thursday above 104° and humidity dropping even lower. While that is not good news, each night temps will cool down and winds will also calm. That should allow some time each day for better progress.
Here is the dashboard for the Gifford Fire.
Here is a look at the forecast across our communities.
There is little to no fog this morning, so communities are off to a sunny start. Good news there!
That being said smoke is pushing south from the Gifford Fire into the Santa Ynez Valley. Air quality is a concern, stay aware and grab an N-95 mask for prolonged outdoor activity
Winds continue to be a concern for all of our communities (not just around the Gifford Fire as stated above). Most spots will see winds up to 30 mph but localized gusts up to 40 mph are also possible.
Temps today will be nothing too remarkable. Highs right around normal for this time of the year are expected. Low 90s for interiors, 70s for coastal valleys and 60s for beaches.
Later on this week, highs will climb significantly. That will bring us to triple digits for interior valleys and 80s closer to the coast.
Thursday will be the hottest day of the forecast with highs waning into the weekend.
Have a wonderful day, Central Coast!
