San Francisco is experiencing an unusually dry January, with no rain expected until late in the month, raising concerns about fire risks.
San Francisco: It’s a dry January, that’s for sure! This month is shaping up to be one of the driest on record, with sunny skies almost every day and no rain in sight.
While Southern California is dealing with serious dry conditions and wildfires fueled by Santa Ana winds, the Bay Area is enjoying calm and warm weather. And it looks like this pattern might stick around for a while.
The forecast shows more dry and sunny days ahead. A stubborn weather pattern is pushing cold air and rain far north to Canada and Alaska. Meanwhile, the East Coast is getting hit with cold weather and some snow.
Forecasters believe we won’t see any rain in San Francisco until at least January 26. If this trend continues, we could end up with the third driest January in 151 years. So far, we’ve only had 0.19 inches of rain, all of which fell on January 3. The driest January ever was in 2015, when we had no rain at all.
This dry spell raises fire risks for Southern California, where the vegetation is parched and Santa Ana winds are expected to worsen. The National Weather Service warns that the combination of strong winds and low humidity could lead to critical fire conditions.
Even though the winds are expected to calm down later this week, the ongoing weather pattern might bring more high winds, making it tough to contain the fires in LA.
Here in the Bay Area, the air is still very dry, and we can expect gusty winds, especially in the hills.
Photo: Phil Reid
