No significant rainfall is in sight for California for weeks as a record-dry start to the wet season continues across the southern half of the state. Wildfire danger remains extraordinarily high across Southern California, with more strong Santa Ana winds expected Monday through Wednesday.

“The rare combination of very strong winds, extremely low relative humidity and very dry fuels will support an extended period of widespread critical fire-weather conditions over much of Southern California,” the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center wrote in its long-range fire weather forecast.

• California fire map: Wildfires burning across state — Pacific Palisades, Eaton Fire, Sunset Fire

• More fire coverage: Was the Palisades Fire started by a rekindling of a blaze from New Year’s Day?

A stubborn atmospheric blocking pattern that has persisted since Jan. 4 is likely to continue through at least Jan. 26, preventing any storms from nearing the Golden State. With a clockwise-spinning high-pressure system just off the West Coast, storms are being shunted up toward Canada before dropping southward east of the Rocky Mountains.

Blocking patterns often persist for days, or even weeks. This would promote continued Santa Ana winds across Southern California.

This pattern will continue to keep the East Coast cold, and at times snowy, while the West Coast dries out.

San Francisco has recorded just 0.19 inches of rain so far this month, all occurring on Jan. 3. If the city doesn’t pick up any more precipitation this month, 2025 will go down as the third-driest January in 151 years of weather records. Los Angeles has yet to record any rainfall this month. Only two other Januarys have been rain-free in Los Angeles since 1878. Nearly all of coastal Southern California is off to its driest start to a water year on record, which began Oct. 1.

Even notoriously wet West Coast cities, such as Seattle, may go without a soaking rain for 10 days or more.

Without any precipitation in the forecast, the statewide snowpack will continue to take a hit. On Dec. 25, 2024, the statewide snowpack-to-date was 111% of historical average. On Jan. 13, it dropped to 86%.

If California does not get any more significant snowfall this January, the month will end behind the paltry winter of 2020-21. The current statewide snow water equivalent is 10.5 inches. January 2021 finished with a statewide snow water equivalent of just 11.9 inches.

Drought is likely to continue developing across Southern California with an absence of rain and additional Santa Ana winds likely to further dry out vegetation.

Monday Bay Area breakdown

San Francisco: A breezy morning is expected, with northeast gusts of 20 to 30 mph across the city, probably up to 40 mph atop hills such as Twin Peaks. Lip balm is recommended as the air will be very dry. A few high clouds may pass overhead, but otherwise it will be sunny. Highs will be around 60, with lows in the 40s.

North Bay: Blustery conditions are expected at the mountaintops, with northeast gusts up to 55 mph. A wind advisory is in effect for the North Bay interior mountains until 10 a.m. Tuesday. Clear skies will prevail, with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. Overnight lows will drop to the 30s in sheltered areas and 40s in wind-prone locations.

East Bay: Gusty winds are expected in the East Bay hills, particularly in the morning. Gusts could exceed 45 mph around the Oakland and Berkeley hills and reach 30 mph in downtown Oakland and Berkeley. Winds won’t be as strong elsewhere, but very dry air will be moisture-wickening, meaning lotion and lip balm may come in handy. Highs will be in the upper 50s to low 60s in the valleys and low to mid-60s near the bay shoreline. Overnight lows will be in the 30s inland and near 40 along the bay shoreline.

Pacific Coast and Peninsula: A breezy, sunny day is expected at the beach. Gusts accelerating down the coastal mountains may exceed 45 mph at the coast, particularly in Pacifica and Half Moon Bay in the morning. Highs will be in the low 60s. Winds won’t be nearly as strong on the eastern side of San Mateo County, but locally breezy conditions are expected. Highs will be in the low 60s. Overnight lows will be in the upper 30s to mid-40s.

South Bay and Santa Cruz: Parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains will be windy Monday morning, but the strong gusts should not last too long. It will also be chilly before the sun comes up, with temperatures in the mid-30s to low 40s. Otherwise, tranquil conditions are expected across the South Bay and Santa Cruz, with highs reaching the upper 50s to low 60s. Overnight lows will again drop to the 30s in the valleys, with some areas of frost possible.

Reach Anthony Edwards: [email protected]; Threads: @edwardsanthonyb; Bluesky: @edwardsanthonyb.bsky.social

Jan 13, 2025

Newsroom Meteorologist

Anthony Edwards is a newsroom meteorologist at The San Francisco Chronicle.

He joins the Chronicle from the University of Washington where he was previously the president of the campus weather forecasting team and an editor at the student newspaper, The Daily UW.

Edwards enjoys exploring San Francisco's parks, playing tennis, hiking, swimming and attending a ballgame when the Mariners visit the Giants and the Athletics.

San Diegans already found ways to help their neighbors up the highway in Los Angeles. Local businesses, nonprofits and animal rescues mobilized shortly after the fires in L.A. got out of control.

Albertsons, Vons, Pavilions executives are collecting financial donations at cash registers. The grocery store chain plans on matching donations up to $100,000.

“We know how urgent and important this is to raise money,” said Julie Field, area vice president.

California Wildfires Jan 9

California Wildfires Jan 8

The money will be given to a nonprofit like the Salvation Army or Red Cross and will provide direct relief for fire victims. A Salvation Army spokesman said monetary donations are preferred because they’re easier to transfer and can be used to support L.A. area businesses also impacted by the fires.

The best way the San Diego Humane Society realized it could help was to take dogs away from L.A. area shelters.

“We're grateful that we were able to step up at this time,” Jordan Frey with the SDHS said. “We know they would be doing the same if the roles were reversed.”

Frey said they transferred at least 37 dogs to San Diego and that freed up room for the pets that will be inevitably found during and after the fires.

“We're really asking the community to open their hearts and homes to these animals in need right now,” Frey added.

She said they were already overflowing with dogs before adding 37 more from L.A.

Other nonprofits like the Little Bitty Animal Sanctuary in Ranchita organized food drives for the Pasadena Humane Society.

Some San Diego-area hotels are offering special accommodation rates and offers for those impacted by the L.A. wildfires. A list of those offers can be found here.

How you can help

Here are some ways you can help people in need.

Donate to the Red Cross

The American Red Cross is on the ground supporting Southern California residents, the organization said on Wednesday. The Red Cross is working to provide safe shelter, food, emotional support and health services to those affected by the fires. Learn more about how the American Red Cross is providing help amid the wildfires here.

To support Red Cross Disaster Relief with a donation, you can visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. The donation, the organization says, will help them prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters.

Donate to United Way of Greater Los Angeles

United Way focuses on longer-term recovery efforts to support members of the community, and the group said it is working with its community partners to assess the impact on the ground in the Los Angeles area. You can donate to support United Way's efforts here.

Donate to Emergency Network Los Angeles

Emergency Network Los Angeles, Inc., provides assistance to people affected by disasters. ENLA is a legally registered 501(c)(3) funded by grants, member dues and donations. Find more information and how to donate here.

Give to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is working with government agencies, nonprofit and faith-based partners and others to respond to the fires throughout Los Angeles County. They are accepting food donations between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at its two distribution centers: 1734 East 41st Street, Los Angeles, California 90058, and 2300 Pellissier Place, Industry, California 90601.

The Food Bank is also accepting volunteers. If you'd like to volunteer, find more information here.

California Community Foundation

California Community Foundation was founded in 1915 to support Los Angeles County communities. The organization has resources for fundholders and donors interested in supporting recovery efforts. Its Wildfire Recovery Fund exists to support long-term solutions for fire-prone communities to prepare for fires.

Donate to California Fire Foundation

The California Fire Foundation is working with local fire agencies and community-based organizations to provide direct financial support to impacted residents as details of the damage emerge. Learn more about the CFF Wildfire and Disaster Relief Fund and how your donation supports victims here.

Support the LAFD

The LAFD Foundation provides vital equipment and funds critical programs to help the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Donate pet supplies to Pasadena Humane

Pasadena Humane posted on Facebook that it is looking for donations of food and water bowls, extra large crates and blankets for the more than 100 animals they have taken in for emergency boarding amid wildfire evacuations.

The group is also seeking people willing to foster animals, especially larger dogs, amid the emergency. Find more information on how to help here.

Give to World Central Kitchen

World Central Kitchen, founded by chef Jose Andres, provides fresh meals to communities in need worldwide.

World Central Kitchen’s Relief Team is in Southern California to support first responders and families impacted by wildfires. Find out more about the organization and how to donate here.

Donate to Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE)

CORE is a global humanitarian organization launched in 2010 to respond to the devastating Haiti earthquake. The group now works with local community organizations in areas hit by disasters worldwide to provide short- and long-term help and recovery, with a particular focus on underserved communities.

CORE is responding to the Southern California wildfires, and you can donate here.

What to know about giving through GoFundMe

GoFundMe has centralized all fundraisers related to the wildfires.

The crowdfunding site has a California Wildfire Relief Fund that will be distributed to people seeking help through GoFundMe fundraisers and nonprofits providing relief, the company said.

San Diego County is experiencing the driest start to the water year in recorded history, according to meteorologists, but some climatologists are hopeful that a La Niña could mean rain on the horizon.

The meteorological water year -- the “rainy season” -- starts on Oct. 1 and, so far, San Diego County has only received a little over a tenth of an inch of rain, leaving a rain deficit of almost four inches.

As a result, moisture in vegetation, both in living and dead plants, is at critically dry levels, making them far more flammable in the event of wildfires.

“So the longer we go into January, the worse it gets, right? And now we have fallen into first place," National Weather Service Meteorologist Alex Tardy said. “So we've never seen a time since 1860 that has started off our rainy season, or the winter or the water year this dry.”

San Diego is now officially the driest start to the water year (since October 1) with only 0.14 inches so far putting it in first place #dry #climate #socal #cawx but in contrast far northern California is much above averages pic.twitter.com/MjDTXKUP9l

— NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) January 10, 2025

The water year runs from October 1st to September 30 with the wettest months typically being January and February.

“When you miss the whole month like December, January, when you miss two months, it just gets rreally difficult to make up for it.”

While southern California has been dry with little to no rain, Northern California has been experiencing frequent and heavy rainstorms, leading to a wetter water season.

According to the NWS, their snowpack is already 100% of its average and reservoirs are full -- and that could help San Diego, too. San Diego County gets much of its water supply from Northern California and from the Colorado system to our east.

Unfortunately, that won’t protect us from the threat of wildfires.

“Santa Ana winds have always occurred in December/January. Our biggest and strongest ones, even in recent years have occurred in January, and that is what's presenting these severe fire weather conditions," Tardy said. And that is why the fire behavior we see up in LA is so extreme. It's all coming together."

On top of the winds, there is plenty of dry fuel to burn after several wet winters, said Julie Clancy, Climatologist for Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

"For drought, we look at the lack of precipitation and so the moisture that's missing for that but also the drying conditions for that, Clancy said. "Drought is really this lack of rainfall but this drying of landscape due to temperature, winds, humidity."

Much of Southern California has entered the moderate drought category as we enter 2025. The U.S. Drought Monitor attributed the change to above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation. It's estimated nearly 19 million Californians are in drought areas.

The question now is how long could the dry conditions last? Clancy said in the next two to three weeks Southern California could see some rain and firefighters would love some help from Mother Nature to keep dry brush from burning.

Climateologists are also tracking the possibility of a La Niña year, and trying to determine how that will affect weather patterns.

A La Niña occurs when the surface water temperatures in part of the Pacific Ocean, which can change tropical rainfall patterns and affect weather across the globe.

A typical La Niña pattern favors rain over the Pacific Northwest with drier than normal conditions for Southern California. But the strength of each La Niña is different and this year's appears to be weak, which could be good for San Diego.

"Even with La Niña, we can get big storms, a wet or dry year," Clancy said.

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for most of eastern San Diego County amid another round of Santa Ana winds.

NWS on Sunday said Santa Ana winds will bring gusty winds and elevated to critical fire weather conditions to inland areas from Monday through Wednesday.

While San Diego County inland mountains and valleys and Riverside County mountains were initially forecast to be under a Fire Weather Watch from Monday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service on Sunday upgraded that to a Red Flag Warning for those areas.

The NWS map below shows the areas under a Red Flag Warning from 4 p.m. Monday through 6 p.m. Wednesday due to strong gusty eastern winds and low relative humidity.

NWS says a Red Flag Warning means if a fire does start, it could spread rapidly due to the combination of low relative humidity, strong winds and warm temperatures.

San Diego County is currently experiencing the driest start to the rainy season in the past 174 years.

SDG&E on Sunday notified around 55,000 customers they could lose power starting Monday night as the utility company works to reduce the wildfire risk in those areas.

SDG&E notified 54,937 customers in areas across the county to be prepared for potential power shutoffs as the weather conditions continue.

View a map online here of areas at risk for Public Safety Power Shutoffs during the latest Red Flag Warning.

The new Red Flag Warning comes as as firefighters continue to battle wildfires burning throughout Los Angeles. The wind has been changing course over the past few days and has brought some of the smoke to the San Diego region, causing a dip in air quality and prompting North County fire officials to issue a smoke advisory on Saturday.

North of San Diego County, NWS issued an air quality alert on Sunday due to wildfire smoke in parts of Los Angeles County, and for windblow dust in parts of the South Coast Air Basin, Coachella Valley, and Eastern Riverside County.

You can check the real-time air quality of your city at AirNow.gov.

San Diego County and Alert San Diego advise to be prepared to evacuate if you are in those areas under a Red Flag Warning.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria posted on X tips for creating a Wildland Fire Action Plan to help residents prepare for a major wildfire.

As Santa Ana wind gusts start whipping around Alpine, Renee Wright — who’s been evacuated at least three times — says she’s learned not to play around when it comes to fire preps.

“You get into your car, which you've already stuffed, and you go," said Wright, a 40-year resident of Alpine. "So your car is already stuffed and ready."

Jan 6

Wildfires Jan 8

While the 2018 West Fire only damaged part of her home off Olive View Road, she was one of the lucky ones. It destroyed 34 homes in the area, some of which have been rebuilt.

As parts of Los Angeles burns, Wright and other fire victims are keeping close watch.

“My heart breaks when I think of those people whose homes have burned," Wright said.

Some Los Angeles residents are relieved after returning to their neighborhoods, but for many others, there's nothing left. NBC 7 sent Shandel Menezes to the Pacific Palisades area, and she walked with neighbors checking to see if their homes were still standing.

David Kassel understands the heartache and stress of losing a home. The chimney was all that was left standing of his Lakeside house after the 2003 Cedar Fire tore through his neighborhood and other parts of San Diego.

“The thing I remember most is the smell," Kassel said. "You never get that out. If I smell that again, I know someone lost their house."

During the two years it took him to rebuild, Kassel says he learned valuable lessons for homeowners, like calling an insurance broker to help deal with insurance issues.

“Right now, they're playing poker at a table with professionals, and their house is in the pot," Kassel said.

He says during the rebuild, it’s also important to celebrate each little accomplishment.

“We'd get toilets, break out a bottle of wine, and celebrate. If you do that, if you manage tiny things, it won't seem like you're not making any accomplishment. Because it’s tedious to rebuild a house," explained Kassel.

Wright echoes that advice, saying she made her house bigger. She also warns others: if evacuation orders are issued, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

“If you don't, you are putting other people in danger," Wright said. "People will go through all kinds of things to try and save you when they wouldn't have to if you're prepared."

The Los Angeles wildfires serve as a powerful reminder for people to be ready in case of evacuations. Tania Luviano-Hurwitz with NBC 7 and Telemundo 20 Responds shares what steps you can take to get prepared.