Southern California was bracing Monday for another round of powerful, sweeping winds in and around Los Angeles, where the landscape remains dangerously starved of rain and firefighters are still working to fully contain wildfires that have left at least 27 people dead and destroyed thousands of homes.
Forecasters on Sunday issued another dire fire weather warning for the area, calling Monday’s conditions a “particularly dangerous situation” — a rare level of alert that it has issued several times this month. The sweeping Santa Ana winds will likely reach damaging speeds across portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties Monday afternoon into Tuesday. Humidity levels will plummet at the same time, creating a prime environment for extreme fire behavior and rapid fire growth.
Santa Anas are the desiccating winds that are common in winter, blowing out of Nevada and Utah and into southwestern California. Carrying dry desert air, they push over the mountains in the Transverse Ranges and accelerate as they move downslope, howling into the canyons and valleys.
Over the last two weeks, the region has been bombarded with a series of Santa Ana wind events, the first and most powerful of which whipped up the Palisades and Eaton fires on Jan. 7. Subsequent rounds of winds hampered firefighters’ efforts to control those fires, and additional blazes sparked across the region, where vegetation has been dangerously dry.
When the worst conditions are most likely
The “particularly dangerous situation” designation will be in place from noon Pacific time on Monday to 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
Relative humidity levels are poised to plummet, especially on Tuesday, and will reach the single digits in some areas. The winds, along with dry fuels and bone-dry air, “would yield locally rapid fire growth with any new fires,” said Rose Schoenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard, Calif.
The winds are expected to affect most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. At their peak, isolated gusts of 50 m.p.h. to 70 m.p.h. are expected along the coast and in valleys, while gusts up to 100 m.p.h. are possible in the foothills and the mountains.
On Tuesday, warm weather that could reach the high 60s to low 70s in the afternoon, as well as low relative humidity levels in the teens and single digits, will add to the high fire risk.
Winds are expected to continue Wednesday and Thursday before relaxing on Friday.
The winds at the start of the week are expected to be similar in strength to the fierce gusts that fueled the devastating wildfires in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. These winds, however, are expected to affect different locations, as they will blow with a more northeast-to-east tilt than the Jan. 7 event, which had a north-to-northeast tilt, Ms. Schoenfeld said.
The areas likely to see the strongest gusts include the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys, the mountains and foothills of Los Angeles County and much of Ventura County.
When will the fire danger pass?
The weather gauge in downtown Los Angeles, a good indicator of rainfall for the county, has recorded just 0.29 inches of rain since May 1. That pace puts it on track to be the lowest amount of rain ever measured between May and January, with records going back to 1877.
At least two inches of rain is needed to significantly lower fire risk, according to Brian Newman, who analyzes wildfire behavior for Cal Fire, the state’s fire agency. Of the upcoming weather conditions, he said, “Hopefully we get no new ignitions, no new fire starts — at all.”
Los Angeles has not seen any rain in January, but there is a chance for some at the end of the month — though it looks like it may be on the lighter side.
“That’s honestly bad news for our fire weather season here going forward,” Ms. Schoenfeld said.
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