Orange County Register

Winds gusting to 25 mph will buffet the Orange County coastline on Friday as a low cold pressure system flows into Nevada from the North Pacific. The low pressure will later swirl around the Great Basin, producing Santa Ana winds that are expected to blow offshore starting late Saturday night or early Sunday. The Santa Anas will gust to 70 mph in Fremont Canyon, above the Anaheim Hills, says forecasters. And they’ll blow 30-40 mph in Anaheim-Orange area. The relative humidity also will drop below 20 percent, or into single digits, creating high wildfire dangers, the weather service says.

“This is typical October weather,” says Stan Wasowski, a weather service forecast.

As we reported earlier this week, the winds and low humidity are a source of concern to firefighters because Orange County is experiencing a moderate drought. The region has received below average rainfall each of the past two years. And the season two years ago was the driest in more than a half century in Orange County. Even coastal mesas — which receive moist onshore breezes — are parched.

Forecasters say there is currently no significant rain in the 7-10 forecast.

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