Fire Weather Watch until 03:00PM Tuesday

San Benito County, Calif. (KION)-Officials have released the following warning:

Off-season offshore wind event Monday evening into Tuesday... .Northeast winds will strengthen after sunset across the higher peaks of the Santa Lucia Range and Southern Gabilan Range then quickly mix down to the lower elevations. Air mass is expected to dry out as winds pick up and become more widespread. The strongest winds are expected just before daybreak on Tuesday with winds gusting up to 45 mph and localized gusts over 50 mph at some of the highest peaks. Winds will then gradually decrease but will remain gusty through the rest of the Tuesday morning and the early part of the afternoon. The National Weather Service in San Francisco has issued a Fire Weather Watch for gusty offshore winds, which is in effect from 6PM Monday evening through 1PM Tuesday afternoon.

* AFFECTED AREA...Fire Weather Zone 517 Santa Lucia Mountains and Los Padres National Forest and Fire Weather Zone 518 Mountains Of San Benito County And Interior Monterey County Including Pinnacles National Park.

* TIMING...Winds will increase Monday evening starting around sunset and carry into the overnight hours between Monday and Tuesday. The strongest winds will occur right before daybreak Tuesday and begin to gradually weaken through the rest of the morning and ease off by early afternoon.

* WINDS...North to Northeast winds 15 to 25 mph with frequent gusts up to 45 mph. Local gusts over 50 mph for some of the higher peaks along the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Mountains of San Benito County.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...Humidity will be low to moderate Monday night and through daybreak from 15-30% with some locations along the Santa Lucia Range dropping into the lower teens. After sunrise expect more widespread low teens across Southern Monterey County and 20-25% across the Mountains of San Benito County.

* IMPACTS...Any new starts aligned with wind will likely show moderate to rapid growth. Strong winds could cause power outages as well as downed trees and limbs.

* AFFECTED AREAS: MOUNTAINS OF SAN BENITO COUNTY AND INTERIOR MONTEREY COUNTY INCLUDING PINNACLES NATIONAL PARK ... SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST

Instructions:

A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur. Listen for later forecasts and possible Red Flag Warnings.

Address/Location
San Benito County
471 4th St
Hollister, CA 95023

Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 831-636-4168