Extremely dry weather has anchored over Northeast Argentina/Southeast Brazil during early-to-middle January and the 10-day rainfall outlook from GFS maintains the dry signature as soil moisture conditions deteriorate rapidly.

As a review, the Evaporative Drought Demand Index (EDDI) can offer early warning of agricultural drought, hydrologic drought, and fire-weather risk by providing near-real-time information on the emergence or persistence of anomalous evaporative demand in a region.

The U.S. gas population weight HDD forecast remains unchanged and still cold through next week. However, the forecast is considerably colder for the week of Jan. 17-23 as previously forecast moderation is not likely. The cold HDD forecasts remain through Jan. 30. In February, HDD forecasts collapse as the East turns warmer.

The meteorology involved with the fire features a low-pressure area over the northern Baja California Peninsula and a high-pressure area over the Great Basin. In-between the 2 pressure systems, easterly (Santa Ana) wind has spread across Southern California with periods of hurricane force gusts. A plethora of high wind and red flag warnings affect Southern California.