Relentless Santa Ana Winds to Continue Raging Through Southland

Red flag warnings of critical fire danger will linger across much of the Southland for the rest of the work week, as Santa Ana winds slowly diminish but continue to blast the region at above-normal velocity and fuel fires that have burned thousands of acres, destroyed hundreds of structures and led to five deaths.

National Weather Service forecasters said that after an early “minor uptick” Thursday, the winds are expected to back down slightly during the day on Thursday, and “most areas should remain under advisory levels until Thursday evening when the next offshore push begins.”

“But without the mountain wave activity this will be much more like a traditional (though still moderate to strong) event with gusts to 60 or locally higher across the mountains and up to 50 in the favored valleys,” according to the NWS.

Forecasters said “winds will peak Thursday evening into early Friday morning, however, will not be as expansive nor as strong as this previous event. Humidity levels of 10 and 20 percent are expected, potentially lowering into single digits in some areas into Friday.”

The winds were fueling multiple brush fires in the L.A. area, the largest being a nearly 16,000-acre blaze in Pacific Palisades. Another massive brush fire in the Eaton Canyon area above Altadena claimed five lives, while other blazes raged in Sylmar and Acton, and another blaze erupted late Wednesday in the Hollywood Hills.

Hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed in the blazes, with more than 1,000 structures believed to have been lost in the Palisades Fire, and another 1,000 in the Eaton Fire.

NWS forecasters said the windstorm was the worst to hit the region since 2011.

President Joe Biden approved a Major Disaster declaration for the state on Wednesday in response to the fires — some of which he was able to witness first-hand while wrapping up a short visit to the L.A. area. He received a briefing from fire officials before he left the Southland Wednesday afternoon.

Biden canceled an upcoming trip to Italy so he could “remain focused on directing the full federal response in the days ahead,” according to the White House.

Forecasters also advised residents to stay away from windows and trees once the winds start, park cars away from trees, and to prepare for possible power outages by charging all electronic devices ahead of time and ensure generators are prepared.

As is standard during high-fire-danger conditions, Southern California Edison customers in some areas could have their power turned off under the utility’s Public Safety Power Shutoffs program. The program is designed to de- energize power lines that could potentially be damaged and spark a wildfire during red flag conditions.

As of early Wednesday evening, more than 42,000 SCE customers in Los Angeles County had their power cut due to the program, along with more than 2,000 in Orange County. Another 121,000 customers in Los Angeles County were under consideration for power cuts, along with nearly more than 31,000 in Orange County.

Updated information about power cuts is available at www.sce.com/outage-center/outage-information/psps