Red flag warnings are in place Thursday morningfor what officials say could be dangerous Santa Ana winds.
Timing
Between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon, large swaths of Southern California will see sustained winds of 20 to 40 mph and gusts from 40 to 60 mph, according to Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
In the windiest mountain locations, gusts could reach 70 mph, he said.
Vulnerabilities
While winds will hit many parts of the region, officials are concerned about some specific areas.
Although Southern California got some rain Sunday and Monday, most of it fell in areas south of Los Angeles County, Kittell said, leaving Los Angeles and Ventura counties very dry.
Areas west of the 405 freeway are at a greater risk for wildfires than those east of the 405, which benefited from rain from post-Tropical Storm Rachel, said Daniel Swain, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources climate scientist. Some places received 2 to 5 inches of rain, while others in Southern California got essentially no rain.
“West of that point, almost no rain fell at all, and in early October we had a record-breaking heat wave,” Swain said. “East of the 405 in Southern California, the fire risk is lower because it recently rained.”
Severity
The fire risk isn’t nearly as bad as in January 2025, just prior to the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires, which destroyed much of Altadena and Pacific Palisades, Swain said. Still, there are concerns.
“This is not January 2025. The winds are not going to be anywhere near as strong. They will not be as widespread. The vegetation is not as dry. So every single factor is less extreme than in January 2025,” Swain said. “The risk is not going to be as high, and it will be more localized because some places have seen recent rain.”
But in places that have remained dry, there will be risks.
In those “pockets,” Swain said, “this will be potentially a fairly high-end event. So on the western side of the L.A. metro [area], into Ventura, Santa Barbara counties, the risk is still potentially pretty high. … It just hasn’t really rained there much yet this season, and there was recent record heat, and the wind will be pretty strong. So there may be public safety power shutoffs.”
Power
The weather service issued wind advisories and high-wind warnings in the mountains to highlight that “the wind itself could cause issues like downed power lines, power outages, road hazards and general nuisance,” Kittell said.
On Tuesday evening, Southern California Edison’s online dashboard said it was considering public safety shutoffs for more than 220,000 customers — roughly 4.5% of its total customers — because of heightened wildfire risk. The company is considering shutoffs in Kern, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties. San Diego Gas and Electric has not announced public safety shutoffs, according to the company’s dashboard.
Pacific Gas and Electric announced it was also considering outages for customers in dozens of counties.
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