Southern California still faces "dangerous" fire weather, Santa Ana winds after PDS warning ends
Southern California will continue to face "dangerous fire weather conditions" including strong Santa Ana winds and extremely low humidity through later this week, forecasters said Tuesday.
By 10 a.m. Tuesday, a relatively rare weather advisory known as a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" (PDS) Red Flag Warning had ended, an advisory typically issued just once every few years by the National Weather Service — when the risk of wildfires sparking and spreading is especially high. While that warning is over, forecasters say fire risks remain in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
"The Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) Red Flag Warning has ended, but dangerous fire weather conditions will persist through Thursday or Friday," the National Weather Service (NWS) said just before 10 a.m., adding that "moderate to locally strong Santa Ana winds" are expected over much of LA and Ventura counties Tuesday.
Those winds — the dry seasonal gusts of Southern California that usually come in the fall and can fuel destructive wildfires — are expected to weaken Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, according to forecasters. However, forecasters say they will stay strong and gusty over the mountains and hills before another round of widespread gusty winds later this week.
A regular Red Flag Warning is in effect through 10 p.m. Tuesday while a Fire Weather Watch — which forecasters can issue further in advance than Red Flag Warnings — is expected to stay in effect through Thursday evening.
Much of the San Fernando Valley, Ventura County beaches and valleys, the Malibu coast, Calabasas, Santa Clarita Valley, western Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Susana Mountains and western San Gabriel Mountains are among the areas affected.
According to NWS Los Angeles, the second cycle of Santa Ana winds this week is forecasted to pick up as early as Wednesday afternoon before peaking Wednesday night into Thursday. Forecasters are also predicting extremely low humidity, with minimum levels of under 10% over much of the area. According to NWS, the risk of wildfires comes with humidity levels of 15% and below.
The PDS warning that expired Tuesday morning is the same dire weather advisory that was in effect when the deadly, devastating Palisades and Eaton fires sparked on opposite sides of Los Angeles County earlier this month. Gusts reached up to 100 mph in some parts of Southern California at the time, powerful winds fueling the spread of the wildfires as they quickly exploded in size.
Last November, the National Weather Service announced its first PDS Red Flag warning since 2020, just before the nearly 20,000-acre Mountain Fire broke out in Ventura County, destroying neighborhoods of homes and and injuring at least six people.
While this week's PDS warning for LA and Ventura counties is now expired, weather conditions bringing wildfire risks are still firmly in the forecast. However, the National Weather Service has not yet released another advisory for later in the week.
"High confidence in widespread Red Flag Warning conditions Wednesday afternoon through Thursday evening, but still deciding how to handle the lull for many areas tonight into Wednesday morning," NWS said Tuesday.
For the now-expired PDS warning, forecasters had warned of "powerful and damaging" Santa Ana winds, saying gusts could reach up to 50 to 70 mph in some areas and up to 100 mph in other parts of the region.
However, by early Tuesday, the National Weather Service released a list of gust speeds seen over the last day — none of them reaching the peak levels that had been predicted. The strongest gusts recorded were in the western Santa Monica Mountains, where they reached 57 mph around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, and 62 mph near Six Flags Magic Mountain in the Santa Clarita Valley.