Santa Ana winds were expected to weaken Friday, but they’ll still be potent enough to raise the risk of wildfires, keeping much of the Southland under red flag warnings.
A red flag warning will be in effect until 10 p.m. Saturday in the Los Angeles County mountains, Santa Monica Mountains Recreational area, Angeles National Forest and the Santa Clarita Valley. The San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, along with the coastal area stretching into downtown Los Angeles, will be under a red flag warning until 6 p.m. Friday.
“Winds are decreasing today, however, it will remain gusty in the mountains and foothills with gusts of 35 to 45 mph,” according to the National Weather Service. “Lower elevations will see less wind with some gusts to 25 to 35 mph at times through (Friday) morning. The air mass remains extremely dry with minimum humidities in the single digits to lower teens expected across most valleys and mountains through Saturday. Poor overnight recoveries of only 10-20 percent will be likely for windier areas of the fire district. Elevated to brief critical fire weather conditions will persist after Saturday due to continued dry air and locally gusty offshore winds.”
Although the red flag warnings are all expected to be expired by Saturday night, forecasters warned that another Santa Ana wind event could hit the region on Monday and Tuesday, “possibly continuing into Wednesday or Thursday.”
In Orange County, a red flag warning had been in effect for inland areas and the Santa Ana Mountains and was scheduled to be in force until 10 p.m. Saturday. But with winds diminishing, the NWS canceled the warning around midday Friday.
Forecasters warned, however, that winds are expected to kick up again early next week, along with relatively low humidity levels, prompting them to issue a fire weather watch in Orange County. The watch means critical fire conditions are in the forecast. If such conditions develop, the watch could be upgraded to a fire weather warning or even another red flag warning.
The wind event again prompted Southern California Edison to implement its Public Safety Power Shutoffs, in which electricity is cut in particularly wind-affected areas to prevent equipment damage that could spark fires.
Thousands of customers in Los Angeles and Orange counties had their power cut off on Wednesday and Thursday, but the numbers decreased dramatically Friday as winds slowly weakened. As of Friday afternoon, only 325 customers in Los Angeles County and 859 in Orange County were reported by SCE to be without power under the program. Another 1,862 customers in Los Angeles County were being considered for shutoffs.