Forecast maps have illustrated the areas on Southern California most at risk from a windstorm this week.
Why It Matters
Santa Ana winds are set to bring dangerous conditions to Southern California, with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning of a “life threatening” and “destructive” windstorm that would impact most of the Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
What To Know
A forecast map from the NWS Forecast Office in San Diego showed particularly high gusts were expected just east of Irvine, predicting peak gusts over 75 miles per hour.
Similarly high gusts were forecast to the north of Los Angeles.
An NWS post outlined several of the areas of greatest risk. These included Pasadena, Burbank, San Fernando, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Simi Valley, Sylmar, Porter Ranch, Altadena, La Crescenta, and Malibu.
Other areas of “greatest concern” included the Highways 118/210 corridors, San Gabriel/Santa Susana/Santa Monica Mountains and Foothills, and the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys.
The NWS said that damaging winds were still expected outside of these areas.
A fire weather outlook map from the NOAA/NWS showed that portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties were deemed as extremely critical fire weather area, and surrounding portions of Southern California were deemed critical or elevated.
The service said that “extreme fire behavior appears likely should ignitions occur. Extremely critical fire weather is most likely for portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. With high pressure extending farther south than on Monday, critical fire weather will extend to the San Diego vicinity as well.
“Even though the upper-level winds will weaken along with the offshore gradient, elevated to critical fire weather is expected to continue into Thursday morning.”
The NWS previously said the windstorm was anticipated from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning across Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Power outages were likely, according to the service.
The NWS added that the strongest winds would bring widespread north-northeast gusts ranging from 50 to 80 mph, with isolated gusts reaching 80 to 100 mph in mountainous and foothill regions.
Expected impacts included numerous downed trees and extended power outages, potentially lasting “several hours or days.”
What People Are Saying
Alex Tardy, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said in an NWS San Diego video: “The winds really ramp up over the San Bernadino Mountains, Inland Empire and Orange County early Tuesday morning.
“As we go through the day, on Tuesday and into Tuesday evening they… increase in intensity and become more widespread, even reaching into parts of San Diego County Tuesday evening.”
Tardy added that late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning was when some of the strongest winds were expected, “which would continue all the way through Wednesday.”
Representative for California’s 28th Congressional District Judy Chu wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Attention Southern California Residents:
“A life-threatening and destructive windstorm is forecast to impact the region this Tuesday and Wednesday. Please take necessary precautions by staying indoors and preparing for potential power outages.”
NWS Los Angeles posted on X: “Strong winds are coming. This is a Particularly Dangerous Situation—in other words, this is about as bad as it gets in terms of fire weather. Stay aware of your surroundings. Be ready to evacuate, especially if in a high fire risk area. Be careful with fire sources.”
What Happens Next
As of early Tuesday morning, the latest high-wind warnings from the NWS were in effect until 6 p.m. Wednesday. However, forecasts are subject to change and are updated regularly.
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