Advertisement

Southern California sees wind reprieve, but extreme fire weather expected to return Wednesday

A burned car in the Palisades fire zone.
A burned car sits on Villa View Drive in the Palisades fire zone on Tuesday.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Share via

Amid weaker-than-expected winds, forecasters paused the “particularly dangerous situation” fire weather warning for Los Angeles and Ventura counties Tuesday afternoon. But winds are expected to pick back up, and the warning will be in place again before dawn Wednesday.

A conventional red flag warning — which warns of severe wildfire behavior if ignition occurs — remains in effect across Southern California, including large portions of L.A., San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, as well as some mountainous areas of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

“We are not out of the woods yet, and people need to stay on guard for a fast-moving fire,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.

Advertisement

“The winds definitely underperformed last night into today — certainly breezy in ... a lot of the areas — but just not as strong as we were fearing,” Kittell said. “For the firefighting efforts, that’s good news.”

Los Angeles Fire Department officials chose not to order 1,000 available firefighters to remain on duty for a second shift last Tuesday in the Palisades to aid in battling wildfires, according to records .

But extreme fire weather conditions are expected to return by 3 a.m. Wednesday, with a “particularly dangerous situation” in effect starting then and expected to run through 3 p.m. Winds could pick up as early as Tuesday night.

Gusts could peak between 50 and 70 mph in the mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and between 30 and 50 mph along the coast and in the valleys. Winds are expected to be strong but, as has been expected for days, significantly weaker than last week’s historic windstorms that fueled the rapid spread of the Palisades and Eaton fires, among the most destructive in modern California history.

Advertisement

“We’re still worried about the next peak” in winds, Kittell said, though meteorologists are continuing to refine their forecasts.

The winds are forecast to come out of the east, and Ventura County is expected to be at particular risk if a fire sparks. The northern Ventura County mountains may get stronger winds than typically seen in a Santa Ana wind event.

Last week’s event saw winds come out of the north, hammering Los Angeles County.

Kittell said forecasters were “not looking for the wind damage that we had last week, or the fire explosion that we had in some of those fires.” But “even though it is weaker,” he said, “this is still a concerning period. It’s still really dry, and these winds really on any day would be of concern.

Advertisement

Beni Oren was among the first group that saw, then escaped the Palisades fire. After posting video of his experience online, internet users became suspicious.

“It does seem like we [have] one more round to be concerned about,” he added, “and then generally improving conditions after that.”

Gusts through Wednesday could reach 33 mph in Irvine and Hemet; 38 mph in Oxnard and Ontario; 39 mph in Temecula; 40 mph in Big Bear Lake; 45 mph in Canoga Park, Fillmore, Santa Clarita and Thousand Oaks; 52 mph at Pyramid Lake; 53 mph in Acton; and 60 mph in Beaumont.

Peak gusts will be far weaker elsewhere — 9 mph in downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach, 10 mph in Redondo Beach, 14 mph in Covina and 15 mph in Santa Barbara, according to the weather service.

The air is expected to be quite dry, however, with relative humidity as low as 8% in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Red flag fire weather warnings will largely expire by 6 p.m. Wednesday but will extend through 3 p.m. Thursday in a few spots in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including the Grapevine section of Interstate 5, the western San Gabriel Mountains and the Santa Susana Mountains.

Red flag warnings were dropped for the San Gabriel Valley as of Tuesday afternoon. Some foothill areas might still be breezy, but Santa Ana winds aren’t expected to reach down to the valley floor, Kittell said.

The weather is expected to be cold in the evenings this week, with a low of 19 degrees in Lancaster, 39 in Redondo Beach, 41 in downtown L.A., 43 in Long Beach and Canoga Park, 46 in Covina, and 50 in Santa Clarita.

Fire weather conditions are expected to improve starting Wednesday night through Saturday. But starting around Monday, there is a moderate risk for another round of red flag warnings.

Southern California is experiencing a painful dry spell that is among the driest starts to a winter on record, a major reason the fire risk is so high. There are still no significant chances of rain through Jan. 25, forecasters say.

State regulators criticized Southern California Edison for falling behind in inspecting transmission lines in areas at high risk of wildfires just months before the deadly Eaton fire, according to state documents.

Downtown Los Angeles has received barely a drop of water for months — just 0.16 of an inch since Oct. 1. Typically, at this point in the water year, downtown L.A. should have received 5.45 inches of rain. The annual average is 14.25 inches.

It’s this combination of the brittle dryness of the vegetation, dry air and strong winds that is a recipe for severe wildfire behavior.

Advertisement