March 07--Moderate winds and warm temperatures Saturday sent some to the beach but also kept firefighters in the Westside busy.
The Los Angeles Fire Department put out a half-acre brush fire near Stone Canyon Reservoir, north of Beverly Hills. Officials said they were dealing with 6 mph winds and low humidity.
A ridge of high pressure carrying a mass of warm and dry air will push temperatures into the 80s in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to the National Weather Service. The warm temperatures and light Santa Ana winds will persist into early next week. The NWS has not issued any wind watches or warnings.
Temperatures will range from 10 to 20 degrees above normal. But the warmer weather is unlikely to break any records, said meteorologist Mike Wofford of the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
By March 15, Southern Californians could feel a slight cool-down.
Temperatures will drop about five degrees but will remain warm for the most part, so Southland residents should "get used to this," he said.
Relative humidity has also dropped into the teens and single digits, making for extremely dry conditions.
It appears February's warming trend will continue this month. The month was one of the warmest Februaries on record.
This week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a weak El Niad arrived and won't provide much relief for California's drought.
The warmer weather is a stark contrast to Monday, when pea-sized hail coated Huntington Beach.
Thunderstorms last weekend dumped 2.62 inches of rain in Santa Monica. The Malibu area got 1.96 inches of rain, downtown Los Angeles received nearly an inch and Thousand Oaks got 0.85 inches of rain, according to the weather service.
