“This week will definitely bring those elevated fire weather conditions,” said Adam Roser, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in San Diego. “The vegetation is still very dry … and these are definitely some of the hotter temperatures we’ve seen so far this summer.”
Heat advisories are in effect across much of Southern California through Friday. Inland valleys and deserts—including San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange counties—are all expecting dangerous triple-digit heat.
Other Active Fires: Rosa and Gold Fires
While Gifford dominates the headlines, crews are also battling the Rosa Fire in Riverside County (holding at 1,200 acres with evacuations in place) and the Gold Fire in San Bernardino County, burning 348 acres in steep, rugged terrain.
Neither fire had any containment as of Tuesday morning, and both have been made more difficult by hot, dry conditions and short-range spotting — when embers jump ahead of the fire line.
A Fire Season Far from Over
Despite a relatively quiet early summer, California’s fire season is now in full swing, and officials warn that late summer and early fall are traditionally the most dangerous periods.
