The first Santa Anas of the season triggered a power shutoff for thousands of Southern Californians on Wednesday as utilities, firefighters and health officials were put on alert for impacts from the strong winds and unseasonably warm temperatures.
More than 2,000 Southern California Edison customers lost power as part of a public safety power shutoff, utility officials said, and another 22,373 shutoffs for customers were being considered.
The outage affected customers in Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside counties as a two-day Santa Ana wind event pushed temperatures into the 90s, with wind gusts hitting 50 mph in some areas.
“We want to prevent anything that’s become airborne from hitting a power line and igniting a spark,” SCE spokesperson Jeff Monford said in a statement.
The utility said power would be restored for customers by midnight. California’s three largest utilities have adopted a strategy in the last decade of cutting off power to customers in wind-prone areas when the weather creates a risk of fast-moving wildfires so their equipment does not create a dangerous spark.
SCE is currently being investigated for its equipment potentially starting the Eaton fire that killed 19 people in January.
On Wednesday, wind gusts peaked around 50 mph in multiple areas, including the San Gabriel Mountains and the Santa Susana Mountains in Ventura County, according to the National Weather Service. Even the Santa Clarita Valley saw gusts as high as 40 mph.
Temperatures were expected to reach up to 95 degrees across the Los Angeles Basin before a cooldown starting Thursday, when temperatures are expected to be in the low 90s in the valleys, upper 80s in downtown L.A. and in the upper 70s along the coast, said meteorologist Ryan Kittell.
The heat is expected to continue easing on Friday, but it will still remain relatively warm, Kittell said.
A red flag warning and heat advisories remained in effect for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties until Wednesday evening.
Over the last couple of days, the winds have been drying out areas recently visited by rain.
Northeast Santa Ana winds up to 40 mph on Wednesday were expected to push humidity levels down, possibly into the single digits.
“That all adds up to heightened fire risk that will linger into tomorrow,” Kittell said. “Generally, the advice is for folks to be extra careful with anything that can spark a fire.”
October is usually the start of Southern California’s fire season as intense winds come from the east. But this October has been marked by some wet conditions.
Earlier this month, an atmospheric river storm hit Los Angeles with scattered downpours, flooding and powerful winds. Officials hoped the precipitation would help reduce long-term fire risks.
But it might have been the last significant rain for awhile, and any gains made from those storms could be undone by this week’s heat and wind, according to the Weather Service.
“Initially we were hoping so, but our fire weather manager spoke with fuel experts with Los Angeles County Fire and the Angeles National Forest,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Lewis. “Some fuels were receptive to the rain and got more moisture from it, but a good amount did not. That’s why we put out a red flag warning with the Santa Ana winds because the fuels are still very dry.”
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