The risk of new wildfire outbreaks again threatened Los Angeles and Orange County Tuesday amid high winds, very low humidity and an abundance of bone-dry vegetation, but the area was expected to get some relief as the high winds die down Tuesday evening.
“The combination of a strong offshore pressure gradient, strong upper-level wind support, and significant cold air advection is producing the strongest Santa Ana wind event we have seen so far this season, with the most dangerous fire weather conditions we have seen since October 2019,” the National Weather Service said in a statement, although Tuesday’s winds were forecast to be lighter than Monday’s.
Two wildfires broke out in Orange County on Monday after a red flag warning had been issued, and a smaller fire broke out Tuesday in Glendale.
A red flag warning — signifying a high risk of wildfire — will be in force until 6 p.m. Tuesday throughout Los Angeles County, except in the Antelope Valley, but gusts were expected to weaken to 40 mph after reaching as high as 95 mph Monday.
The weather service tweeted Monday night that the day’s strongest wind gust had been 96 miles per hour at the Magic Mountain Truck Trail in Santa Clarita and that strong Santa Ana winds would persist through Tuesday morning, but the winds would not be as strong as Monday.
A hard freeze warning in the Antelope Valley expired at 9 a.m. Tuesday, but overnight lows were expected to dip into the upper 20s and 30s again heading into Wednesday.
The weather service had urged Antelope Valley residents to “protect tender plants from the cold.” It said that to prevent freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes, pipes should be wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly. “Those that have in-ground sprinkler systems should drain them and cover above-ground pipes to protect them from freezing.”
A high wind warning will be in effect until 3 p.m. in the San Gabriel Mountains amid winds of 30 to 45 miles per hour, one day after strong winds blew over several trucks on Interstates 10 and 15.
“Damaging winds will blow down large objects such as trees, power lines and temporary structures. Power outages are expected. Travel will be difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles,” warned the NWS.
Officials said air quality would be unhealthy Wednesday for all people in Southeast Los Angeles County and the South San Gabriel Valley, and unhealthy for sensitive people in most of the rest of the county.
Most Orange County communities had smoky skies as a result of the fires.
Nearly 3,500 Southern California Edison customers in Los Angeles County and 1,271 in Orange County had their power cut Tuesday morning to guard against the possibility of downed power lines causing a fire.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was also responding to power outages across the city. An LADWP official said outages were reduced to fewer than 300 customers as of 11 a.m. Tuesday in the areas of Panorama City, Chatsworth, Woodland Hills, Studio City, Lakeview Terrace and Van Nuys.