SAN DIEGO — The National Weather Service in San Diego issued a Fire Weather Watch Monday which will go into effect from late Wednesday night through Friday evening.
A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur.
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Should any fires develop, they would likely spread rapidly.
Besides the San Diego County mountains, other areas also under the Fire Weather Watch include: San Bernardino, Riverside, the San Gorgonio Pass, and the northern portions of the Coachella Valley.
Winds are expected to be 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph, near the ridge tops in the San Diego County mountains.
The San Diego region can also expect low humidity of 5 to 10%. Very low humidity will continue into Saturday, but with weaker and less widespread winds.
There will be greater humidity recovery Sunday as onshore flow increases and a deep marine layer pushes into the valleys.
San Diego City Mayor, Kevin Faulconer, also warned residents to be prepared in case a fire strikes.
In anticipation of Santa Ana wind conditions and heightened fire danger levels, the Cleveland National Forrest has also increased fire staffing, bringing in more than 130 firefighters from northern California, Oregon, and Idaho, placing them in fire stations across San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties.
October is often a time of heavy fire activity in southern California, and despite the lower-than-average national fire activity to date, it does not eliminate the potential for wildfire activity locally.
"Typically, 99% of fire starts are kept to under 5 acres thanks to the quick response of our firefighters, but when more frequent fire starts are common, increased staffing allows us to minimize the potential for a large wildfire to occur" Forest Supervisor Scott Tangenberg said in a statement.
Twenty-four-hour increased staffing is expected to continue as hot and dry conditions persist.