While my friends on the East Coast and mid-America are having to deal with Polar Vortexes here in 'paradise' we have our own storms to contend with. These dry, windy conditions are what brought on the 2 big firestorms of 2003 and 2007. The only "good" news regarding this unusually warm weather is my figs are waking up, new leaves are starting to unfurl on many of my trees. Stay safe wherever you are.

Urgent - Fire Weather Message
National Weather Service San Diego CA
319 AM PST Wed Jan 15 2014

San Diego County Inland Valleys-San Diego County Mountains-
Including The Palomar And Descanso Ranger Districts Of The
Cleveland National Forest-

Red Flag Warning Remains In Effect Until 6 PM PST This Evening
For Strong Gusty Winds And Low Humidity,

* Winds, East 15 To 25 Mph With Gusts To 50 Mph.

* Relative Humidity, Lowest Daytime Around 5 Percent With Poor
Overnight Recovery Tonight.

* Outlook, Continued Warm And Very Dry Thursday And Friday With
Weaker Northeast Winds. Localized Gusts To Around 45 Mph Are
Possible In The Windier Locations.

Precautionary/Preparedness Actions,

A Red Flag Warning Means That Critical Fire Weather Conditions
Are Either Occurring Now, Or Will Shortly. A Combination Of
Strong Winds, Low Relative Humidity, Above Normal
Temperatures, And Very Low Fuel Moisture Will Contribute To
Extreme Fire Behavior.

Stay safe!

Hi Sue,

Ditto what you say!  We dearly need some rain.  82 degrees here this morning ...... huh, mid January?

A wierd winter, really has the figs and other plants confused.    Going to be a very short dormacy for all my babies, I don't know if that's good or bad.  I left all outside with minor protection.  Crazy, a few like Grasa's "Adriatic" and a "Strawberry Verte" from Jon, never did go dormant or loose leaves.  Both new one gallon starts from last year!  As with your figs, many of mine are stating to leaf out or have swelling buds.   Only thing I fear now is one of those arctic blasts or freeze, late in the month or in February.   Not that uncomon and would surely put the hurt on the breaking out fig trees.

Pray for rain in all of the Western US.   And, no fires......!

Sue, you guys are in my prayers!  Hey, two weeks ago we had single digit temps twice.  Then we had major flooding last week!  I had to jump in the culvert of my creek and rake out the leaves and debris to keep my lot from flooding!  What a mess!  And now, my trees inside my gargage and basement are leafing out!  And guess what?  Next Tuesday, we are suppose to get sleet and snow!

Man what gives???

Stay safe Sue , Jack and all in the west. Heard it was a really dry "rainy" season out there . Hope you guys get some rain soon !

Best wishes for your safety and the safety of every thing dear to you.

Jack, what is an Artic Blast for San Diego....70 degrees....LOL

Yeap, same in Los Angeles. Fire warnings on the radio almost every dy.

Hey Armando, how you doin….?

Yeah, Arctic Blast 70 degrees in San Diego, ha, ha.  That’s about right this winter for sure.....  :-)

Actully, an Arctic Blast or Arctic Express is a tag the weatherman down here use for an extreme “cold front”.    Guess it’s a regional name, sort of like the “Santa Ana” condition or heat wave and winds we are experiencing now.

In a usual winter we might see a few almost freezing nights, but they only last a few hours on the coast.   No big deal..!  But, an Arctic Blasts hits us with sub-freezing 5-6 hours a night for several nights in a row.   That really plays hell with all the tropical type landscape.  Lots of plant and tree damage throughout the county........ urgh!   Luckily it’s a rare event.

Doing well Jack, been practicing grafting in my kitchen with some small trees........It can get cold in San Diego, visited my friend in September and the nights get cold with the ocean next door.  Keep Warm...My Friend.

Actually, the polar vortex comes south on the plains, and swings west about every 25 years, and we get the affects here. Last one was 5-6 years ago. The cold air is not well mixed with our warmer air, so you get weather tat looks like a marble cake. It can be 25F one one side of a tree and 40 on the other side. Or the cold air can be all above 4' and the warm air below, or vice versa. Makes for some very interesting sights a few days later when half a tree looks fired, and the other half is fine. Last time, a friend about 1/2 mile away was 20 degrees colder than I was.

I wish I had your suffering. I cannot stand this cold here in Seattle!