Much of the Sacramento Valley is under red flag warning starting Thursday

The Dixie Fire, visible from Highway 70, along the Feather River on Wednesday, July 20, 2021.
Andrew Nixon

Hot and windy — the forecast for much of Northern California. Temperatures are expected to approach 100-degrees in many areas on Wednesday, triggering a red flag warning for most of the region, including Sacramento.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Scott Rowe said that the red flag warning would start on Thursday at 11 a.m. and on Friday at 8 p.m.

“It’s in effect for pretty much the entire Sacramento Valley and Northern San Joaquin Valley, as well as the foothill communities up to about 2,000-foot elevation,” Rowe said.

Rowe discouraged any outdoor burning and asked that residents heed any burn bans that may happen to prevent sparks from lighting up dry fire fuel.

While temperatures may be reaching nearly 100 degrees, Rowe said that it’s more common for the region to be in the low 80s.

“It’s not unheard of to be in the upper 90s,” Rowe said. “It has happened before, where we’ve been this hot before Memorial Day, but we are still about 10 to 15 degrees above where we should be.”

Winds could gust up to 45 mph during the red flag warning, with temperatures staying in the mid-90s through Friday.

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Steve Milne is the Morning Edition anchor at Capital Public Radio. He's also an award-winning reporter whose work has been heard on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered as well as Marketplace and The Voice of America.
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