Issued:					Sunday May 11, 2008
																														Predictive Service Areas																			Ytd				Sun				Mon				Tue				Wed				Thu				Fri				Sat
																																																	May 10				May 11				May 12				May 13				May 14				May 15				May 16				May 17
																														NC01 - North Coast																			0				0				0				0				0				0				0				0
																														NC02 - Mid Coast to Mendocino																			2				2				2				2				2				3				3				2
																														NC03 - Bay Area																			2				2				2				2				2				3				3				2
																														NC04 - Northwestern Mountains																			1				1				1				2				2				2				2				2
																														NC05 - Sacramento Vly/Foothills																			3				3				3				3				W				W				3				3
																														NC06 - Northeastern California																			1				1				1				2				2				2				2				2
																														NC07 - Northern Sierra																			2				2				2				2				2				2				2				2
																														NC08 - East Side																			2				2				2				2				2				2				2				2
																														Weather Synopsis:
																														***Rapid transition to summer-like weather this week.***       The effects of a relatively weak low pressure trough will be felt over the Geographic Area through Monday with overall cooler temps and higher to somewhat higher RH. A high pressure ridge will rapidly strengthen over the region beginning Tuesday for a strong warming and drying trend that will eventually bring about unseasonably warm temps and very dry conditions later in the week. Temperatures will see a meteoric rise after Monday, and by Thursday, the warmest valley locations will be into the 90s and possibly at 100 or just above in the Northern Sacramento Valley. In the mean time, another weather element of interest will be fairly strong westerly winds that will develop this afternoon with speeds generally in a range of  5-17 mph with gusts 20-35 mph. Winds will become more northerly but lighter Monday into Wednesday, but it appears rather likely that Wednesday night and Thursday morning some rather strong (8-20 mph, gusts 30-35 mph) N to E winds will occur near and west of the Cascade/Sierra crest. This could bring about some downslope heating conditions that would possibly add a few degrees to the already very warm airmass that will be in place by then.       B.Belongie
																														Fire Potential Discussion:
																														The dry weather in the past few months and the rapid retreat of snow has put dead fuels at much drier levels overall than is average for early May. The dead fuel conditions are more typical of mid to late June for many areas.  The  Sacramento Valley below 1500 ft especially is already in the "Very Dry" category as the annual grasses have rapidly cured over the past 2 weeks. Drying will continue or accelerate in all areas this week under the strong high pressure system leading to an overall increase expected in significant fire potential across the Geographic Area.