Be prepared for another day of dry and windy conditions driving high fire danger across northern California. A Red Flag Warning for high fire danger will be in effect through 5pm today for the valley, foothills, a portion of the Sierra, and Trinity County. Eastern Plumas and Lassen County areas will be under a Red Flag Warning through noon today. A Wind Advisory is also in effect for portions of the foothills and Sierra through 2pm today. Sustained winds up to around 30mph will be possible, and gusts up to around 50mph are also possible today in the foothills and mountains. Sustained winds to 20mph out of the north are possible in the valley, with gusts up to around 30mph. Humidity will also stay very low today, and is expected to bottom out in the 3 to 15 percent range this afternoon. The very low humidity, gusty winds, and record dry fuels are the main driving factors in our high fire danger today.

Northern California remains situated between high pressure off the coast in the Pacific, and low pressure to our east. High pressure will nudge a little closer to our region today, and the low pressure area is moving further to our south and east. This will result in warmer temperatures than Monday, and winds that are not as strong through the day. The strongest winds are expected this morning, and will then gradually decrease through the afternoon. Temperatures are starting out in the 40's to low 60's in the valley, 40's to 50's in the foothills, and anywhere from the teens to 40's in the mountains this morning. Winds are mostly out of the north to around 15mph early today, but some areas of the foothills and Sierra are reporting winds a bit stronger than that. We're still tracking some areas with gusts between 40 to 50mph this morning, but those should start to subside after sunrise. Humidity will be very low again today, and is projected to bottom out in the 3 to 15 percent range. High temperatures will mostly end up in the mid 80's in the valley, in the 70 to 80 degree range in the foothills, and the mid 60's to around 80 degrees in the mountains this afternoon. Gusty winds, very low humidity, and record dry fuels are leaving us with fire danger in the high range today.

High pressure will build into northern California over the next few days, and that will help to put an end to the gusty winds in our region. Temperatures will stay above average for the rest of your extended forecast, but will not be as warm as today on Wednesday. Valley areas will top out in the upper 70's to mid 80's through this weekend, while foothill and mountain areas end up in the low to mid 70's. Skies will be sunny and conditions will be staying dry through at least Sunday. Models are hinting at a chance for showers in our northern zones on Tuesday of next week, but this doesn't look very likely at this point. Also, remember that Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend, so you'll want to plan ahead to changing your clock back one hour late Saturday night into early Sunday.