Red Flag Wildfire Alert Extended Until 3 p.m.

Mild Santa Ana winds and dry desert air combined for low humidity conditions in the Southern California mountains Saturday, prompting the extension of a "red flag'' warning posted by the National Weather Service (NWS).

Unofficial high temperatures of 88 in Chatsworth and Woodland Hills and 89 in Saugus were reported.

The NWS said the mildly fire-prone weather conditions will linger another 24 hours, forcing an extension of the red flag warning to 3 p.m. Sunday.

A typical autumn weather pattern, with a high pressure system over Nevada, was circulating winds from the inland deserts through coastal mountains and out to sea, the NWS said.

Winds were reportedly gusting to 30 miles per hour, posing a slight fire danger, but humidity readings in the single digits were also observed. No big gusts were predicted by the NWS.

Given the mild nature of the weather pattern, neither the city nor county fire departments in Los Angeles were moving equipment or people around. And no high-wind parking restrictions were implemented on the narrow streets of the Hollywood Hills.

-- City News Service