humidity drops, that fire on the other side of the ridge behind that fire could spread. they are trying to make a stand here to stop this fire from growing any further. this fire is huge, but why has it been able to grow so big? the first priority is protecting the communities and homes. secondly, in building control lines, we have to use a naturally occurring geographical feature to stop the fire. a bulldozer line coming through or along a creek or ridge? these are things you look for to be your wall of defense to stop the fire? correct. we use existing roads or ridge lines or other features. to conduct the bulldozer line and hand lines. reporter: adding fuel to the fire season, the national oceanic atmospheric administration says july was the hottest month on record in california history. those dry and warm conditions creating the perfect storm. stephanie elam, cnn, colusa
that blaze there is part of the firefighters starting here. the controlled burn. they doing this to burn out the fuel here because as the winds pick up in the afternoon and humidity drops, that fire on the other side of the ridge behind that fire could spread. they are trying to make a stand here to stop this fire from growing any further. this fire is huge, but why has it been able to grow so big? the first priority is protecting the communities and homes. we have to use a naturally occurring feature to help us control the fire. a bulldozer line coming through or along a creek or ridge? these are things you look for to be your wall of defense to stop the fire? correct. we use existing roads or ridge lines or other features. reporter: adding fuel to the fire season, the national oceanic atmospheric administration says july was the hottest month on record in california history. those dry and warm conditions creating the perfect storm. stephanie elam, cnn.
17 million americans in california and parts of nevada still under a red flag warning and that means high fire dangers will continue and i think maybe what the mayor was eluding to is containment is there. half of the fire of the tufts fire is contained. last week, it was zero contained. these are the red flag warnings that continue in effect throughout the day. the difference will be the wind. yesterday, a couple of fronts moved through and areas of low pressure that kicked up the wind and not a good thing. now an area of high pressure moves in on top of you here. that will allow the winds to calm down. the temperatures will be going up but if you ask any firefighter, i have because my brother is one, the wind is the key. they would rather have low winds than high humidity so we will take that ingredient and push it in here as far as the lower winds. 5, 10, 15 miles an hour maybe at most. i think what we can handle today we can certainly handle that. the humidity on the lower side. y
going to end off cooler, too, right? the afternoon temperatures are going to be below normal. this is the upside. there s one side of it. look at the humidity, the very hot, sticky temperatures we have been looking at. once the humidity drops, it will feel better and drier as well. of course, that is what we keep talking about another system developing out there. look what s going on already in texas and the southern plains out there. this is what s going on. all this moisture out of the gulf. a stationary boundary here. with that, we are talking heavy amounts of rain. we are talking a slow moving system. five inches of rain possible around texas and louisiana. this is a concern as it spreads east. it says as much as eight inches of rain in some places, too. wow. it s a scary thought. heavy rain in a short period of time is not a good thing. two to four inches of rain in atlanta. we are completely dry in here. looks a lot better, right?
are talking ant. severe weather means more heavy rain. that s the biggest concern. hot spots, fargo, duluth and st. cloud. a change for the weekend. it is the weekend, guys. where is the nicest place? new england. high pressure is in place and the humidity dropped. that is a huge plus unlike the hot and humid air you are talking about in the southeast. the other side of it, yeah, the humidity drops, and beautiful, sunny skies. here, nice and dry. if you are in the southern portions of the southeast, look for scattered showers to the mid-atlant mid-atlantic. hello, it is summer. finally, we waited so long. by tomorrow morning, 6:51 east coast time, it is officially summer. that, i m extremely happy about. it may be too hot for some of you. we showed you the humidity. again, look at this.