A brief cooler reprieve won't last long in Ventura County.
Over the weekend, the National Weather Service says expect hotter, windier weather to return. That's not too unusual for the region, where Santa Ana wind season runs from October through January.
But it's also a sign that fire season isn't over yet.
"Of course, if you get good rain in November and December, then (the winds) are a non-factor for fires," said William Patzert, a retired climatologist from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
"I don’t mean half an inch of rain,” he said. A good 3 to 5 inches needs to douse the landscape to dampen the fire season.
So far, rain has been a no-show.
Late last month, a series of damaging wildfires fanned by Santa Ana winds forced evacuations from Simi Valley to Somis as flames chewed through thousands of acres of dry brush.