While drought isn't a requirement to have increased fire activity, it can certainly enhance it. With ongoing drought conditions being felt across much of the state, knowing the difference between a Red Flag Warning and a Fire Weather Watch can be critical. What You Need To Know Drought continues across much of the state Drier than normal conditions are expected in early May Low relative humidity and strong winds create dangerous fire conditions Drought has been a significant factor in six of the last seven La NiƱa years. The latest Drought Monitor continues to show widespread drought across the state. We'll see what effect recent rainfall has had when the updated Drought Monitor is released on Thursday. The Climate Prediction Center expects drier-than-normal conditions to continue as we start May. A few weather criteria need to be met or forecast to occur for a Fire Weather Watch or Red Flag Warning. Typically, minimum relative humidity levels have to be 15% or less. Winds also need to be strong, sustained at 20 mph or gusts of at least 35 mph.
The kitchen became a galley with black slate counters; bunk beds made the bedrooms look like ship's cabins. Jaffe also designed furniture for the house -- which he did for some of his clients -- including fir armchairs, cubic nightstands and a cruciform chandelier made of fir and white plexiglass. A dining table is a one-legged hunk of black slate. The architect was so proud of the Perlbinder house that he often brought prospective clients to see it -- until at least the 1980's, that is, when he started designing mansions for the Hamptons super-rich. "The trophy houses of his later career, " Mr. Gordon writes, marked "Jaffe's drift into excess. " For the house's trip inland in 1998, its original decks were sawed off. Once it was unmoored, crews slid it onto stacked steel I-beams greased with Ivory soap, and cranes dragged it onto former potato fields. "No windowpanes were broken, and a bottle of Perrier on the kitchen counter didn't tip or slide, " Ms. Perlbinder said. "I know it sounds apocryphal but it's true. "