Over the weekend, a strong north wind with low relative humidity will bring an elevated fire risk for the valley. Here’s how experts say you should be prepared

SACRAMENTO, Calif — The Sacramento region is under its first fire weather watch of the season as officials warn windy conditions and dry vegetation could increase wildfire danger this weekend.

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Sacramento said the setup follows a dry March and a wet April, which led to regrown vegetation across the valley that could now be prone to fires as winds increase.

“It’s our first fire weather watch of the season,” said Dakari Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

Anderson said the National Weather Service works closely with the local Geographic Area Coordination Center, a regional wildfire coordination hub, when issuing alerts.

“They give us some fuel information, and we do that then combining with the meteorology that we focus on — end up issuing the fire weather watch we saw this week,” Anderson said.

Officials said getting back into the mindset of practicing fire safety will be important as fire season conditions begin developing.

“Most of our vegetation fires that we see are human caused and definitely preventable,” Sacramento Fire Capt. Justin Sylvia said.

Sylvia said one of the best ways residents can help prevent fires is by managing vegetation around homes and properties.

“What we want folks to do is get out and manage this vegetation, whether it be your side yard or a large field that needs to be mowed,” Sylvia said. “Do that before 10 a.m., where the relative humidity is still going to be a little bit higher during the day.”

By the afternoon, officials said conditions become more dangerous.

“We see sparks come off of these lawnmowers and start these vegetation fires. And it happens pretty frequently,” Sylvia said.

Officials are also urging people this weekend to practice fire safety, focusing on taking action steps. 

“Whether it be not parking on dry grass, watching for sparkling power equipment, properly disposing of your cigarettes in campfires, again, just being really careful of the human impact that we can have on our area,” Anderson said.

If possible, clear any overgrown vegetation in the background by Friday evening before the winds pick up on Saturday.

RELATED: Sacramento Weather Forecast

Northern California fire danger rises with weekend winds

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