“O suns and skies and clouds of June, And flowers of June together, Ye cannot rival for one hour October’s bright blue weather.”

Helen Hunt Jackson

The amphitheater at Rosemont Middle School was the happening place to be last Saturday morning. This venue is a familiar one, as it was used for programs and graduation when our boys passed through years ago. Memories of those days came to light, with an invitation from our neighbors. Their 12-year-old daughter is a violinist in the school’s orchestra, specifically the advanced strings section, and would be performing at the pancake breakfast. Without hesitation, we accepted! Both the music and the morning’s weather were flawless.

October, a time for pumpkins, “bright blue weather” and the potential for Santa Ana wind-related wildfires. This year is no different, except for Southern California Edison’s planned power outages-a preventative measure, in case of ignited vegetation from downed power lines.  Most of us in La Crescenta would be affected if this happened. A term which often gets thrown into this autumn-related mix is Red Flag Warning.

After trying to discern between the various fire danger statements, including watch, advisory and warning I came across an informative paper written by Larry Van Bussum, the National Fire Weather Operations Coordinator with the National Weather Service. Of the 19 pages, I found the ones pertaining to Red Flag Warnings to be especially interesting.

In 1910 devastating wildfires raged across Idaho, Montana, and Washington. Methods of controlling or fighting forest fires were not in place. With public outcry and pressure, changes were in the wind. Weather long- known to be the predominant factor in fire behavior led the U.S. Forest Service to collaborate with the U.S. Weather Bureau. By 1916, the first “mobile” weather unit, atop a wooden wagon, was pulled by a team of nervous horses to the fire front to aid the firefighters.  Close-by rangers would raise a red flag on the flagpole, to alert other firefighters of impending danger. The red flag warning was never intended for public use. Nowadays, NWS information is made public. So, yes we are under a RFW!

The winds should be a blowin’ at 55 mph in our neck-of-the-woods today and Friday. A RFW is in effect, as well. Cooler temperatures are forecast into next week. Is the sky really bluer in October? We’ll take a look next week.

Sue Kilpatrick is a Crescenta Valley
resident and  Official Skywarn
Spotter for the National Weather Service. Reach her at suelkilpatrick@gmail.com.

  Sue Kilpatrick