A powerful Santa Ana wind event has triggered a red flag warning across much of Southern California, putting residents and officials on high alert for potentially catastrophic wildfires.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a rare "Particularly Dangerous Situation" (PDS) red flag warning for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, indicating an especially high risk of rapidly spreading fires. This type of warning is typically only issued once every few years during the most extreme fire weather conditions.
Wind gusts up to 80 mph have already been recorded in the San Gabriel Mountains, with forecasts calling for widespread damaging winds of 60-80 mph in mountain and foothill areas. Even coastal and valley regions could see gusts of 50-70 mph.
Adding to the danger, humidity levels are expected to plummet to 8-15% by Wednesday afternoon and remain low through Thursday. The combination of powerful winds and extremely dry conditions creates the potential for any fires that do start to spread explosively.
In response to the heightened fire risk, utility companies are implementing precautionary power shutoffs that could affect tens of thousands of customers. Southern California Edison has warned that over 55,000 customers may lose power, while the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is also preparing for possible outages.
Fire officials are urging residents in affected areas to be prepared to evacuate if necessary and to avoid any activities that could potentially spark a fire. The red flag warning is expected to remain in effect through Thursday evening for much of the region.
With vegetation already critically dry after a long, hot summer, authorities warn that any new fires could exhibit extreme behavior with rapid rates of spread. Residents are advised to stay informed about local conditions and heed all evacuation orders from emergency officials.