Southern California is at risk of more damaging and dangerous winds

Southern California braced for Monday’s severe and windy turn in and around Los Angeles, where the ground remains starved of rain and firefighters are still working to fully extinguish wildfires that have killed at least 27 people and destroyed thousands of houses.

Forecasters issued another fire weather warning on Sunday, calling Monday’s conditions “extremely dangerous” — a rare alert it has issued several times in this month. Santa Ana winds may reach damaging speeds across the Los Angeles and Ventura areas Monday afternoon into Tuesday. Moisture levels will also drop at the same time, creating an ideal environment for extreme fire behavior and rapid fire growth.

The Santa Anas are cold winds that are common in winter, blowing from Nevada and Utah and into southwestern California. They bring dry air to the desert, push the mountains of the Transverse Mountain Range and increase as they descend, howling in the canyons and valleys.

In the last two weeks, a series of Santa Ana winds have battered the region, the first and strongest of which destroyed the Palisades and Eaton fires on January 7. fire, and additional fires broke out throughout the area, where the vegetation was already dangerously dry.

When the worst situation is the best

An “extremely dangerous situation” designation will be in effect from noon Pacific Monday through 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Humidity levels are generally poised to drop, especially on Tuesday, and reach single digits in some areas. The wind, combined with dry fuel and bone-dry air, “will cause rapid local fire growth with new fires,” said meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld. day with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard, Calif.

Winds are expected to affect most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. At its peak, isolated gusts of 50 mph to 70 mph are possible along the coast and in the valleys, while gusts up to 100 mph are possible in the mountains and mountains. .

On Tuesday, warm weather that could reach the low 60s to low 70s in the afternoon, as well as humidity levels in the low teens and single digits, will add to the high risk. .

Winds are expected to continue Wednesday and Thursday before easing on Friday.

Winds early in the week are expected to be similar in strength to the powerful storms that caused devastating wildfires in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. These winds, however, are expected to affect different places, because they are blowing from the northeast to the south more than on January 7, which had a north-northeast trend, said Ms. Schoenfeld.

Areas likely to see the strongest storms include the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys, the mountains and hills of Los Angeles County and most of Ventura County.

When will the fire danger end?

The downtown Los Angeles weather gauge, a good indicator of rainfall for the region, has recorded just 0.29 inches of rain since May 1. back to 1877.

At least two inches of rain is needed to reduce the risk of wildfires, according to Brian Newman, who analyzes fire behavior for Cal Fire, the state’s fire agency. Regarding the future weather conditions, he said: “We hope there will be no new fires, no fires starting – at all.”

Los Angeles hasn’t seen any rain in January, but there’s a chance for some by the end of the month — even if it looks to be on the lighter side.

“This is very bad news for the current climate,” Ms. Schoenfeld said.