A spell of hot, dry weather and strong Santa Ana winds will intensify wildfire hazards in eastern San Diego County over the Thanksgiving holiday period, forecasters advised Monday.
Due to the combustion dangers posed by the gusty, arid and unseasonably toasty conditions, the National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch, effective from early Thursday morning through late Friday afternoon in the local mountains and inland valleys.
San Diego Gas & Electric warned customers in the back county to prepare for possible power shutoffs over the Thanksgiving holiday as a precaution to prevent wildfires
Combining with the heat to generate critical wildfire weather conditions over the period will be sustained winds of 20-30 mph out of the east — with gusts of 40-60 mph in some locales — and humidity levels as low as 10%.
The strongest winds will occur on Thursday, the weather service reported. They will then dissipate considerably and become more isolated on Friday, though high temperatures will remain 5 to 15 degrees above average through the weekend and into early next week.
Updated at 5:05 a.m., Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021
City News Service contributed to this article.