More Warm Weather Headed for Southern California Fires (VIDEO)

Warmer will return Monday but weather experts say the winds should not increase.

Firefighters in San Diego County will see warm weather return Photo courtesy: Talia Frenkel/American Red Cross

(SAN DIEGO) - A light offshore flow is expected to bring Southern California more warm weather and low humidity, and that's not good news for the wildfires that have been burning for several days.

Western Expert Meteorologist Ken Clark with AccuWeather.com says winds will be light and localized, unlike the hurricane-force Santa Ana winds that fueled the deadly wildfires earlier this week.

"Yesterday...computer models were calling for an offshore flow returning with a possible light to moderate Santa Ana setting in on Monday," Clark said.

But the conditions are not expected to be as bad as they were earlier in the week when the fires began. Clark says this all points to a warming trend over the weekend through Monday along with a drying of the air mass.

Winds are net expected to remain steady. Clark says residents can expect localized offshore winds of 15 to 30 mph from later Saturday or Saturday night into Monday morning below some of the passes and canyons. "I do not expect anywhere near the winds that occurred with the last Santa Ana," he added.

The fires this week burned a total of 474 thousand acres, roughly three-quarters the size of Rhode Island. Around 1,500 homes have been destroyed, at least five people have died, and at least 56 firefighters have received injuries. President Bush signed a federal disaster declaration Wednesday.

As firefighters go from defensive to offensive positions in their battle against the wildfires, increasing rewards are being offered for the arsonist or arsonists responsible for setting them. A reward of $70,000 is currently being offered for information on the suspect or suspects who set the Santiago Fire. Another reward of $50,000 was authorized by the Governor Thursday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspected arsonists.

KTLA TV had their crews assigned to different fires. This is a portion of the October 24th 2007 edition of Eyewitness News 11:00 PM with Marc Brown and Michelle Tuzee.

In this video:
Fires contained, weather improves
San Bernardino fire becoming contained
San Bernardino evacuation center
Arson suspects wanted - big reward
Arsonists will face severe penalties
Santiago Canyon arson investigation, reward

Watch the video below. Special thanks to KTLA and YouTube. Also, thanks to AccuWeather.com for information in this report.

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