After brief reprieve, gusty winds expected to return to Southern California on Sunday

After a brief respite on Saturday, gusty winds from the north and northeast are expected to return to the Los Angeles area as early as Sunday. That could be the start to as many as three Santa Ana wind events next week, officials said.

Firefighters continue to battle multiple major wildfires across the region and much of Los Angeles County remains under a red flag warning through Friday night.

The dangerous combination of low humidity, bone-dry fuels and shifting winds has complicated efforts to get the wildfires under control. Fanned by gusts of up to 40 mph overnight, the 20,000-acre Palisades fire remained only 8% contained Friday, while the Eaton fire that has burned nearly 14,000 acres in Altadena and Pasadena is only 3% contained.

Firefighters were hopeful the lull in the winds on Saturday would help them lay down fire lines and boost containment of the two massive fires, as well as several other smaller blazes burning across the region, before they starting kicking up again. At least 10 people have died in the fires and officials say it’s likely the death count will rise.

“It’s more favorable for us and for crews to get into some of those areas with steep, rugged terrain that may be a little dangerous when that wind is up, and with the warmer, drier temperatures,” said Will Powers, a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman.

A firefighter who was injured in a fall working on the Eaton fire on Thursday is hospitalized and is stable, officials said Friday.

Kristan Lund, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, called the upcoming winds a “moderate to strong event,” likely to peak Tuesday and prompt new red flag warnings. But she noted the worst of it is expected to be focused over Ventura County.

That could give L.A. County firefighters a bit of a break, but it also could create additional concerns farther west in a region already strapped for resources.