End Pavement

Speaking of current conditions, there is reportedly a big honkin’ storm headed toward Southern California late this week.

From the NOAA “Special Weather Statement”:

…STRONG SEPTEMBER STORM POSSIBLE LATE THURSDAY THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY… A STRONG STORM FOR SEPTEMBER MAY MOVE THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LATE THURSDAY THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY. THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE WEATHER VERY RARELY SEEN IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN SEPTEMBER. THIS COULD BE THE STRONGEST MID LATITUDE SEPTEMBER STORM FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN AROUND 20 YEARS.

From the Press-Enterprise article “Big September storm on horizon”, there’s an added wrinkle.

With forecasters calling for what could be the most powerful September storm in 20 years to arrive late Thursday, firefighters battling the Butler 2 blaze in the Big Bear Lake area could face winds, rain and snow late this week.

Naturally, there’s a Red Flag warning in effect, thanks to the winds ahead of the storm:

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAS VEGAS HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM PDT /11 AM MST/ TO 9 PM PDT /9 PM MST/ WEDNESDAY. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL DROP SOUTH INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ON WEDNESDAY. INCREASING SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AHEAD OF THIS LOW WILL BRING SUSTAINED WINDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS BETWEEN 35 AND 45 MPH TO MUCH OF THE AREA BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES ARE EXPECTED TO BE CLOSE TO OR BELOW 15 PERCENT IN MOST AREAS. STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL PERSIST INTO THE EVENING HOURS BEFORE CONDITIONS MODERATE AFTER ABOUT 9 PM.

So fasten your seat belts, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. ;)