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Dry conditions lead to red flag warning Sunday Sep 11, 2016 at 8:38 PM Greg Stiles Mail Tribune @GregMTBusiness Bone-dry conditions combined with a trough of warm air pouring in from Canada created red flag warning conditions for Monday. The National Weather Service said Sunday red flag conditions will last from 2 to 11 p.m. in the lower elevations of Jackson and Josephine counties. There is the possibility in of thundershowers in northeastern California, but no precipitation or lighting is expected in Southern Oregon. Winds blowing out of the northeast at 10 to 15 mph and gusts of up to 25 mph are forecast with temperatures hitting the low 80s. The greatest danger accompanying the warning, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ken Sargeant is that the smallest of fire could blow up quickly because the dry, windy conditions. "We've had really low humidity readings," Sargeant said. "The the extreme fire danger and dry air mass blowing in, if somebody drops a match, cigarette or creates a spark that will get a fire started. It can take off quick." The warm air flowing from the western Canadian provinces is part of a moistureless flow. Although it's unusual to get a north-easterly winds, mid-September to early October is the time of year it can happen, Sargeant said. What will create the thunderstorms south of the California border is a system coming from the southeast rapping around the trough, he said. Even though the 19.77 inches of precipitation in the Rogue Valley during the water year, starting Oct. 1, is nearly 2 inches above the normal level, the Medford area hasn't seen measurable rain since July 10. "That's two long months," Sargeant said. Upper elevation levels won't fall under the warning, he said. The Gap Fire, in the Klamath National Forest, spread to 32,324 acres and is now 85 percent contained. The 100-acre increase was limited to pockets of vegetation burning in the fire’s interior and not perimeter expansion. Management of the Gap Fire was transferred to Northern California Incident Management Team Sunday morning. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31.