L.A.’s red flag fire weather to last through Friday. Gusts could return Sunday
Los Angeles County girded for a final day of red flag fire weather warnings Friday, before a day of relief amid the historic devastation of firestorms that hit the nation’s most populous county.
But gusty winds, coming from the north and northeast, are expected to return as early as Sunday. That could be the start to as many as three Santa Ana wind events next week.
“There is great concern that fire weather conditions could become exacerbated given the antecedent conditions, little rain across the area since the spring of 2024, and another offshore wind event on top of all of what we have seen,” the National Weather Service said.
It was a grim forecast, given that this week’s 19,978-acre Palisades fire and 13,690-acre Eaton fire have killed at least 10 people and damaged or destroyed more than 9,000 homes, businesses and other buildings — among the worst in Los Angeles County history in terms of property damage. Economic losses could top $50 billion — almost certain to rank as one of the most costly natural disasters in U.S. history.
First up is the ongoing Santa Ana wind event for Friday. Gusts of up to 70 mph are possible.
The western end of the Palisades fire is expected see some strong winds, but fortunately, the Eaton fire that burned through Pasadena and Altadena wasn’t expected to be affected much, forecasters said.
The number of faults on the power grid near three of the major Los Angeles County fires skyrocketed in the hours before the blazes began, according to a company that monitors electrical activity.
“Like a typical Santa Ana, this one will only last through the morning. Wind gusts will quickly diminish around noon,” the weather service said Friday morning. The red flag warning is set to expire at 6 p.m. Friday.
But there could be back-to-back-to-back Santa Ana wind events next week — after the first arrives on Sunday, there could be a stronger event Monday night into Tuesday.
Ten people have died, more than 9,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed, and at least 130,000 residents are under evacuation orders. Experts say L.A. is not out of danger yet and that these fires have the potential to be the costliest wildfire disaster in American history.
And there’s a possibility of another “potentially strong and damaging Santa Ana wind event developing between Tuesday night and Wednesday,” the weather service said, with gusts approaching 50 mph along places along typical Santa Ana wind corridors, such as Newhall in Los Angeles County, as well as Oxnard and Camarillo in Ventura County.
The Tuesday Santa Ana wind event likely will be traditional, and isn’t expected to be the kind that poses a particularly dangerous situation, as was the case with the weather conditions that fueled the Palisades and Eaton fires, the weather service said.
Nonetheless, as for Tuesday’s Santa Ana wind event, “the low humidities and the winds will combine to bring enhanced fire danger to the area,” the weather service said.
The Palisades fire erupted on Tuesday morning and quickly consumed over 17,000 acres and thousands of buildings. Aircraft sensors captured the explosive growth.
Severe fire weather is being fed in part by desiccated vegetation. The last significant rain downtown Los Angeles has seen came on May 5, 2024, when 0.13 inches of rain fell. Since then, there hasn’t been a single calendar day in which more than one-tenth of an inch has fallen downtown.
There have been only five days since the water year began in October where downtown L.A. has seen measurable rain: 0.07 inches on Nov. 2, 0.03 inches on Nov. 24, and 0.02 inches on Nov. 23, Nov. 26 and Christmas Eve.
That means that only 0.16 inches of rain have fallen since Oct. 1. That’s abysmal — the average for this time of the season is 4.87 inches, which is about one-third of L.A.’s average annual rainfall.
Ten people have died, more than 9,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed, and at least 130,000 residents are under evacuation orders. Experts say L.A. is not out of danger yet and that these fires have the potential to be the costliest wildfire disaster in American history.
Strong gusts continue to affect the region Thursday. A gust of 74 mph was detected near Agua Dulce at 10:20 a.m. Thursday, and a 70 mph gust near Mount Wilson at 10:53 a.m.
Thursday brought a scare of a new wildfire — the Kenneth fire, which started near the western edge of Woodland Hills around 2:30 p.m, where Victory Boulevard terminates into the rolling hills of the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve.
Fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, the fire had consumed 960 acres of brush by 5:30 p.m. and was burning south, officials said. It was spreading through open space and threatening homes in the Malibu Canyon area north of the 101 Freeway near Calabasas. Firefighters were on scene, and water drops were being made by air. By Thursday night, the Kenneth fire was 35% contained.
Ten people have died, more than 9,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed, and at least 130,000 residents are under evacuation orders. Experts say L.A. is not out of danger yet and that these fires have the potential to be the costliest wildfire disaster in American history.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said firefighting helicopters were working at a swift pace to douse the flames with water — an aerial attack that wasn’t an option during the worst of the spread of the Palisades and Eaton fires earlier in the week, where severe winds forced the grounding of firefighting aircraft.
Los Angeles police took a man into custody on suspicion of arson in Woodland Hills about five miles from where the fire started, according to an LAPD spokesperson. Police said they could not connect the suspect to the Kenneth fire at this time.
A caller reported a man attempting to light a fire in the 21700 block of Ybarra Road at 4:22 p.m., the spokesperson said.
Farther east, efforts to protect Mount Wilson from the Eaton fire were proving successful, and officials expected that to remain the case. Mount Wilson, north of Sierra Madre, is home to key radio and TV transmitters for the region, as well as a historic observatory.
More than 20 arrests have been made on suspicion of looting over the last few days. L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna has asked the California National Guard for help, assisting with traffic control and keeping people out of burned areas.
Ten people have died, more than 9,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed, and at least 130,000 residents are under evacuation orders. Experts say L.A. is not out of danger yet and that these fires have the potential to be the costliest wildfire disaster in American history.
The sheriff said his department is working to implement a curfew between 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the burned areas of the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire. Santa Monica has already imposed a nighttime curfew for some northern neighborhoods still affected by a mandatory evacuation order.
Smoke from the fire was leaving unhealthy air over the L.A. area. As of midnight Friday, the air was unhealthy across areas like central L.A., East L.A., Pasadena and Glendale; and unhealthy for sensitive groups across portions of the L.A. Basin and the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, according to AirNow.gov.
Smoke forecast
Jan. 9, 10 p.m.
Jan. 10, 10 a.m.
Jan. 10, 10 p.m.
Officials warned that it could take time for the medical examiner’s office to identify the dead, using dental records or DNA. Workers were combing through homes in Altadena and Malibu to recover the charred remains of people killed in the fires — so badly burned that fingerprints and facial features have been lost from the remains.
A small drone collided with a firefighting aircraft — a Super Scooper, a massive fixed-wing plane that can drop large amounts of water — that was flying over the Palisades fire on Thursday. The aircraft was damaged, but landed safely and the incident will be investigated, officials said. The drone was destroyed in the collision.
It’s a federal crime to interfere with firefighting efforts on public lands, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The crime can be punishable by up to a year in prison. As of Thursday, drone flight restrictions near the wildfires in the Los Angeles area was extended until Jan. 23.
Ten people have died, more than 9,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed, and at least 130,000 residents are under evacuation orders. Experts say L.A. is not out of danger yet and that these fires have the potential to be the costliest wildfire disaster in American history.
Hundreds of thousands of Southern California residents remained without power Thursday. Some of the outages were a result of wind-caused damage, but many were also under planned electricity outages designed to reduce the risk of new fires being ignited.
Health officials are advising residents to avoid contact with ocean water across a swath of coastal Los Angeles County due to potential debris and runoff contamination from firefighting efforts in the area.
The advisory, issued Thursday afternoon, covers ocean and bay waters from Surfrider Beach in Malibu to Dockweiler State Beach at World Way — “especially near discharging storm drains, creeks, rivers and fire-damaged oceanfront properties,” according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
The Getty Villa activated its emergency operations center at 10:40 a.m. Tuesday, and within two hours, the fast-moving blaze had reached the grounds. Here’s how the staff, museum and precious art were kept safe.
Times staff writers Tony Barboza, Terry Castleman, Hannah Fry, Sean Greene, Lorena Iñiguez Elebee, Don Lee, Summer Lin, Jasmine Mendez, Luke Money, Koko Nakajima, Matthew Ormseth, Faith E. Pinho and Richard Winton contributed to this report.
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