Officials issued a red flag warning Thursday morning because Santa Ana winds could be hazardous.
timing
Sustained winds of 20 to 40 mph and gusts of 40 to 60 mph will occur across a wide swath of Southern California from Thursday afternoon into Friday afternoon, said Ryan Kittle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
He said gusts could reach 70 mph in the windiest mountainous areas.
loopholes
While high winds will hit many parts of the region, officials are concerned about a few specific areas.
While Southern California received some rain on Sunday and Monday, much of it fell south of Los Angeles County, leaving Los Angeles and Ventura counties very dry, Kittle said.
Areas west of Highway 405, which benefited from rainfall after Tropical Storm Rachel, are at greater risk for wildfires than areas east of Highway 405, said UC Agriculture and Natural Resources climate scientist Daniel Swain. Some places received 2 to 5 inches of rain, while other parts of Southern California saw essentially no rain.
“West of that point, there was almost no rain, and we had a record-breaking heat wave in early October,” Swain said. “East of Southern California Highway 405, fire risk is low due to recent rain.”
severity
Swain said the fire risk is not as severe as it was in January 2025, when devastating fires in Eaton and Palisades destroyed much of Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Still, there are some concerns.
“This is not January 2025. The winds won’t be as strong. The winds won’t be as widespread. The vegetation won’t be as dry. So every factor will be less extreme than January 2025,” Swain said. “The risk will not be as high and will be more localized because of the recent rain in some places.”
But in places that have been dry, there are risks.
In these “pockets,” Swain said, “it can be a pretty high-end event. So on the west side of the L.A. metro [area]into Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, the risk may still be quite high. …It’s just that it hasn’t really rained there yet this season, and we’ve had record high temperatures recently, and the winds can be quite strong. As a result, public safety power may be shut off. “
strength
Kittel said the weather service issued high wind warnings and high wind warnings in the mountains, emphasizing that “the wind itself can cause problems such as downed power lines, power outages, road hazards and general nuisances.”
On Tuesday night, Southern California Edison’s online dashboard said the company was considering public safety closures for more than 220,000 customers, or about 4.5% of its total customers, due to heightened wildfire risks. The company is considering closures in Kern, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties. San Diego Gas & Electric has not announced public safety closures, according to the company’s dashboard.
Pacific Gas & Electric announced it was also considering blackouts to customers in dozens of counties.