Scattered thunderstorms and gusty winds will herald the arrival of several cold fronts across interior mountain areas of the West over the next week. This will contribute to extreme fire weather conditions, especially in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming where large fires are already raging. Southern Arizona and New Mexico continue to be drenched by a very active monsoon, and this looks to continue for the forseeable future. A new tropical depression has developed in the Eastern Pacific, which is expected to further develop into a hurricane. It will eventually weaken as it takes a NWward track over colder waters. Depending on how far north this system goes, it’s remnants could impact California by next week. SW flow aloft will continue more or less for the next 7-10 days. This is normally a very dry and stable pattern for CA, but if there is sufficient remnant moisture far enough north by later this week, more active weather may be in store for areas closer to the coast.