Red flag warnings set to take effect throughout Southern California, beginning Monday

Caroline Petrow-Cohen, Los Angeles Times on Dec 8, 2024

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Red flag warnings will go into effect early Monday for large swaths of Southern California, from Los Angeles to San Diego, due to strong Santa Ana winds, according to the National Weather Service.

The strong dry winds combined with warm temperatures and low humidity will bring fire weather to the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains as well as parts of the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County, according to the weather service. Inland areas of Orange County and all of Bernardino and Riverside County valley and mountain areas will also be affected.

"This is pretty typical for this time of year," said Sebastian Westerink, a weather service meteorologist in San Diego. "This is peak Santa Ana wind season and I would say that this is at least a moderate event."

Gusts could reach up to 80 mph in the windiest corridors of Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Monday night into Tuesday, officials said. Gusts between 40 and 60 mph will be common and winds could reach 65 mph near San Diego in the mountains and passes.

The National Weather Service is advising residents who live near wildland interfaces to be prepared to evacuate if a wildfire breaks out and to avoid outdoor burning.

"Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly … which would threaten life and property," the warnings said. "There is the increasing threat for fire weather conditions to rival other historical fires in recent times including the Mountain and Thomas Fires."

Temperatures will be cooler on the coast and in the low 70s throughout inland areas on Monday, Westerink said. Humidity will be in the single digits, around 7% near San Diego and 5% near Los Angeles, with isolated readings as low as 2%, according to the National Weather Service.

The Santa Ana winds, which originate inland from cool, high-pressure air masses in the Great Basin, routinely affect Southern California this time of year and help create wildfire conditions. Dry fuel also increases the risk of wildfires, the National Weather Service said.

"This is extremely common for early December," said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service station in Oxnard. "It would be shocking if we didn't have these types of events."

The red flag warnings will remain in effect until early Wednesday.

Powerful Santa Ana winds were blamed for the devastating Mountain fire in Camarillo last month. The fire, which began on Nov. 6 and burned for days, charred nearly 20,000 acres, razed 243 buildings and damaged dozens more in nearby communities in western Ventura County, according to data released by state fire officials.

The tally placed the blaze as the third most destructive wildfire in Southern California since at least 2013.