Alert archive / California / Red Flag Warnings in 2014

Red Flag Warning 2, NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA

January 16, 2014Monterey County, San Benito County, California

NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA issued this red flag warning at Jan 16, 2014, 3:22 PM PST for Monterey County, San Benito County, California. It was in force for 21 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 16, 2014, 3:22 PM PST (23:22 UTC)
Expired
Jan 17, 2014, 11:57 AM PST
In force
21 hr
Issued by
NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Counties Monterey County, CA, San Benito County, CA

The radar

The San Francisco radar (KMUX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:25 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 171 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Oakland, CA at 12:00Z on 2014-01-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Oakland, CA at 12:00Z on 2014-01-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3251 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

831 
WWUS86 KMTR 162322
RFWMTR

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
322 PM PST THU JAN 16 2014

CAZ516>518-171400-
/O.NEW.KMTR.FW.W.0002.140116T2322Z-140117T2000Z/
SOUTHERN SALINAS VALLEY...ARROYO SECO...AND LAKE SAN ANTONIO-
SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST-
MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY INCLUDING
PINNACLES NATIONAL PARK-
322 PM PST THU JAN 16 2014

...RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST FRIDAY FOR LOW
HUMIDITY AND LIGHT OFFSHORE WINDS. AREAS COVERED BY THE RED FLAG
WARNING INCLUDE INTERIOR MONTEREY AND SAN BENITO COUNTIES INCLUDING
THE SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST AS WELL AS
THE SOUTHERN SALINAS VALLEY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA HAS ISSUED A
RED FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST FRIDAY. 

* AFFECTED AREAS: FIRE ZONE 516 SOUTHERN SALINAS VALLEY...ARROYO
  SECO...AND LAKE SAN ANTONIO...FIRE ZONE 517 SANTA LUCIA
  MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST...FIRE ZONE 518
  MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY INCLUDING
  PINNACLES NATIONAL PARK.

* TIMING: NOW THROUGH NOON PST FRIDAY.

* WIND: EAST TO SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH.

* HUMIDITY: MINIMUM HUMIDITY DURING THE DAY 3 TO 9 PERCENT. MAXIMUM
  HUMIDITY 15 TO 30 PERCENT AT NIGHT.

* IMPACTS: THE COMBINATION OF DRY FUELS...LIGHT OFFSHORE WINDS AND LOW
  HUMIDITY WILL RESULT IN CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WHERE
  ANY NEW IGNITIONS WILL EXPERIENCE RAPID FIRE GROWTH.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES CAN
CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.

&&

$$


HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SANFRANCISCO
2 follow-up statements
563 
WWUS86 KMTR 171139
RFWMTR

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
339 AM PST FRI JAN 17 2014

CAZ516>518-172000-
/O.CON.KMTR.FW.W.0002.000000T0000Z-140117T2000Z/
SOUTHERN SALINAS VALLEY...ARROYO SECO...AND LAKE SAN ANTONIO-
SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST-
MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY INCLUDING
PINNACLES NATIONAL PARK-
339 AM PST FRI JAN 17 2014

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON PST TODAY FOR
LOW HUMIDITY AND LIGHT OFFSHORE WINDS. AREAS COVERED BY THE RED
FLAG WARNING INCLUDE INTERIOR MONTEREY AND SAN BENITO COUNTIES
INCLUDING THE SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL
FOREST AS WELL AS THE SOUTHERN SALINAS VALLEY...

* AFFECTED AREAS: FIRE ZONE 516 SOUTHERN SALINAS VALLEY...
  ARROYO SECO...AND LAKE SAN ANTONIO...FIRE ZONE 517 SANTA 
  LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST...FIRE ZONE 
  518 MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY 
  INCLUDING PINNACLES NATIONAL PARK.

* TIMING: NOW THROUGH NOON PST FRIDAY.

* WIND: EAST TO SOUTHEAST WINDS 5 TO 15 MPH.

* HUMIDITY: MINIMUM HUMIDITY DURING THE DAY 3 TO 9 PERCENT.
  MAXIMUM HUMIDITY 15 TO 30 PERCENT AT NIGHT. 

* IMPACTS: THE COMBINATION OF DRY FUELS...LIGHT OFFSHORE WINDS
  AND LOW HUMIDITY WILL RESULT IN CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER 
  CONDITIONS WHERE ANY NEW IGNITIONS WILL EXPERIENCE RAPID FIRE 
  GROWTH.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES CAN
CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.

&&

$$


HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SANFRANCISCO
014 
WWUS86 KMTR 171957
RFWMTR

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
1157 AM PST FRI JAN 17 2014


CAZ516>518-172100-
/O.CAN.KMTR.FW.W.0002.000000T0000Z-140117T2000Z/
SOUTHERN SALINAS VALLEY...ARROYO SECO...AND LAKE SAN ANTONIO-
SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST-
MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY INCLUDING
PINNACLES NATIONAL PARK-
1157 AM PST FRI JAN 17 2014

...RED FLAG WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR INTERIOR MONTEREY AND SAN BENITO COUNTIES
INCLUDING THE SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL
FOREST AS WELL AS THE SOUTHERN SALINAS VALLEY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA HAS CANCELLED
THE RED FLAG WARNING. 

ALTHOUGH TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL ALONG
WITH VERY LOW HUMIDITY VALUES, RED FLAG CONDITIONS ARE NO LONGER EXPECTED
FOR MOST LOCATIONS.

$$


HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SANFRANCISCO

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in California, 2014Every red flag warning in 2014

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.