By Jim Purpura. Posted October 27, 2011, 9:24 AM.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag warning through 2 pm this afternoon Monday for the Inland Empire. This mean gusty Santa Ana winds and relative humidities at or below 10 percent will create weather conditions conducive to the start of wildfires.

This will be a brief threat since the greatest chance of strong winds will be through this morning.

Highest gusts this morning that have been observed is 44 mph at Fremont Canyon, a notoriously windy spot in the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County.

In the Inland Empire the strongest gusts observed are 24 mph at Muscoy and 23 mph at Rialto (San Bernadino County) and 21 mph near Cabazon (Riverside County).

Brief periods of light offshore (east) winds will be present Friday through Sunday mornings, but no significant Santa Anas are forecast as of now.

Computer models hint at the next significant offshore event as around Tuesday or Wednesday, but this is rather uncertain at this time.