Dry, windy and warm weather has set in up and down California and could set records, the National Weather Service said Tuesday.
Santa Ana winds produced by high pressure in the interior of the West gusted up to 59 mph in the Montecito Hills of Santa Barbara County and nearly as high elsewhere in the region.
The offshore flow was expected to more widely push some Southern California high temperatures into the 80s and lower relative humidity levels into single digits, which would cause some fire weather concerns in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, forecasters said.
Desert locations already reached the 80s this week.
Offshore flow and warming also have kicked in across the San Francisco Bay region.
Downtown San Francisco reached its 27th consecutive day without rainfall and the next chance of precipitation was not in the forecast until March 1.
The weather service said that with no rain in sight for the remainder of the month, it appeared that February 2020 would go into the record books as the driest on record in many locations.
In the Central Valley, forecasters said daytime temperatures will be near record highs this week.
