San Benito County officials are encouraging locals to keep an eye out for another round of dry thunderstorms to hit the area, especially in the Diablo Range.
The National Weather Service on Aug. 21 issued a press release stating that a “Dry Lightning Warning” will begin Aug. 23 at 11 a.m. and end Aug. 25 at 11 a.m. The warning is for fast moving high-based thunderstorms that may lead to a risk of dry lightning and new fire starts, according to county officials.
According to NWS, remnant moisture from Hurricane Genevieve will bring a chance of dry thunderstorms. The hurricane will begin to lift across the Central Coast and Bay Area late this weekend and for the first part of next week, resulting in the potential for two rounds of thunderstorms.
NWS says gusty winds may accompany stronger thunderstorms and light breezy onshore winds near the coast should be expected. Dry lightning also has the potential to cause additional fires.
Any thunderstorms tailing from Sunday into Monday will likely be dry, which can produce gusty and erratic winds around the existing fires causing erratic fire behavior.
NWS noted that dry conditions at low levels will make precipitation from any resulting thunderstorms and there’s a possibility of some light rainfall by Tuesday. “Although confidence is lower, there may be a second pulse of energy for Monday night and Tuesday, continuing the threat of thunderstorms across the region. These thunderstorms may also moisten with time, even though there is still low confidence in wetting rains at this time.”
For more information visit the NWS website at https://www.weather.gov/mtr/
