Dry lightning and gusty winds could increase wildfire dangers in Southern California this weekend

A red flag warning has been issued for parts of Los Angeles County, and a fire weather watch has been issued for much of Riverside County.

A red flag warning has been issued for parts of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, and a fire weather watch has been issued for much of Riverside County as dry lightning and gusty winds increase the threat of wildfires, the National Weather Service said on Saturday, July 13.

Red flag warnings mean weather conditions could lead to a wildfire within 24 hours. A fire watch is issued when dangerous weather could exist in the next 12-72 hours.

“An upper-atmospheric weather disturbance off the Pacific Coast will interact with an influx of monsoonal moisture to create widely scattered and mostly dry thunderstorms today,” the NWS Los Angeles bureau said in a statement on Saturday morning.

“So far this morning, lightning strikes have mostly been focused from Ventura County northward, but daytime heating will likely expand the thunderstorm coverage into the interior portions of Los Angeles county,” the NWS said.

In addition to lightning, the fast-moving thunderstorms are expected to produce gusty, erratic outflow winds gusting upwards of 45 to 60 mph in some places.

“With the ongoing extended heat wave, contributing to significant drying of fuels, a significant fire-weather risk exists today,” the weather service said.

It urged residents to use “extreme caution” with anything that can spark a wildfire. Residents near wildland areas should be prepared to evacuate if a wildfire breaks out.

Critical fire weather conditions and a chance of thunderstorms also are expected in the Riverside County mountains and high deserts, forecasters said.