Moderate to strong Santa Ana winds battered parts of the Los Angeles area Thursday, making driving treacherous on some mountain and valley roadways, but conditions are expected to calm by late afternoon.
According to the National Weather Service, some areas saw gusts as high as 85 mph Thursday morning, while some coastal areas were hit with 55 mph winds.
“By late afternoon and this evening, the winds are expected to diminish quite a bit,” according to the NWS.
A high wind warning that was expected to remain in place until 3 p.m. across most of the region was lifted at noon and replaced with a less-serious wind advisory, which will remain in place until 6 p.m. for most of the Los Angeles area, but only until 3 p.m. in the coastal area, which stretches into downtown Los Angeles.
Forecasters said affected areas could still see winds of 20 to 35 mph Thursday afternoon, with gusts up to 55 mph.
“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects and make driving difficult, especially for drivers of high-profile vehicles,” according to the NWS. “Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.”
Forecasters said the Golden State (5) and Antelope Valley (14) freeways could be particularly affected, along with mountain roads such as Malibu Canyon, Topanga and Decker Canyon, as well as multiple freeways in the San Fernando Valley.
In Orange County inland areas, as well as the Santa Ana Mountains and foothills, the San Bernardino and Riverside County valleys and Inland Empire, a high-wind warning was in effect was allowed to expire at noon.
“It will remain breezy in some areas early this afternoon, but the winds will subside through early evening,” according to the NWS.
Although no fire weather warnings were issued, the Los Angeles County Fire Department advised residents to download an evacuation plan at fire.lacounty.gov/rsg/.
The NWS said the wind event is expected to be “pretty short,” though another round of gusty winds is expected to return late Saturday into Sunday.