Southern California’s most urgent warning is for strong winds and extreme fire danger

The Santa Ana wind forecast for Southern California has worsened, and officials said conditions would bring a “risk of large fire spread” starting Monday.

The National Weather Service’s Oxnard office on Sunday issued the most extreme version of its red flag fire weather warning, known as a “particularly hazardous situation” warning.

Much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties are expected to be affected, including fire areas in Malibu and Altadena, weather service forecasters said. They warned residents to prepare for the event, which is expected to begin at midday on Monday and continue until 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

Gusts of 50 to 70 mph are forecast for the coasts and valleys. Gusts of 60 to 80 mph, with isolated gusts of 100 mph, are expected in the mountains and foothills.

“We would encourage people to prepare an evacuation plan for you, your loved ones and pets – pack essentials, have the emergency bag ready just in case. Refill gas for cars and generators, secure outdoor items and adjust travel plans. ” said Rose Schoenfeld, a weather service meteorologist.

In addition to Malibu and Altadena, the warning also includes Burbank, Santa Clarita, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Azusa. Ojai and Pasadena are outside the border, Schoenfeld said.

Much of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties are under a traditional red flag warning as early as 10 a.m. Monday, indicating critical fire weather conditions and rapid fire spread with any new fire on Tuesday. 10 p.m.

The new warning is the unprecedented fifth issuance of a “particularly hazardous situation” enhancement to a red flag warning in a single season by the weather service’s Oxnard office, which covers Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis counties Obispo covers.

The first three times the department issued this warning followed fires that quickly ignited and spread – the 19,904-acre Ventura County mountain fire in November that destroyed 243 structures; the 4,037-acre Franklin Fire, which spread rapidly in Malibu and destroyed 20 structures in December; and the Palisades and Eaton fires this month are among the most destructive and deadly in California’s modern history.

The weather service in Oxnard only began issuing “particularly hazardous situation” warnings in 2020. This year he sent out two warnings, in October and December. No more were issued until November 2024.

Over the weekend, firefighters battled the new threat of high winds to contain wildfires still burning in Pacific Palisades and Altadena – areas under a red flag.

The Palisades fire, which burned more than 23,700 acres and killed at least 10 people, was 56% contained as of Sunday, according to the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Eaton fire, which charred more than 14,000 acres and killed at least 17 people, has been 81% contained.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, 27 people are still reported missing: 20 from the Eaton fire and seven from the Palisades.

As of late Sunday, there were still communities near the Palisades fire under evacuation orders, although the areas restricted to residents, and only residents, had expanded to the Palisades Highlands, with daily escorts at 10 and 5 p.m. Evacuation warnings have been lifted in other areas.

Meanwhile, in Altadena, areas north of Mendocino and Harriet streets remained under evacuation orders. South of that, an evacuation warning was still in effect Sunday evening for the area north of Woodbury Road between Lincoln Avenue to the west and Lake Avenue to the east.

The sheriff’s station in Altadena remained closed after concerns about air pollutants prompted a complaint from the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health last week, although Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday he expected it to reopen early this week.

More than 2,700 federal and state firefighters continued to battle the Eaton fire on Sunday – slightly fewer than the previous day because some firefighters were relieved of duty. Carlos Herrera, public information officer for the L.A. County Fire Department, said officials were continuing to release firefighters — who traveled from across the country as well as Canada and Mexico — as containment increases.

But the department will continue to communicate with weather experts to provide appropriate staffing, “particularly in Altadena in Mt. Lowe and Mt. Wilson – some places where we are targeting containment,” Herrera said. “We have a lot of resources.”

At a town hall Sunday afternoon, Cal Fire Operations Section Chief Jed Gaines echoed that sentiment — but with a tinge of concern about the forecast for the coming days.

“We are confident the fire will remain within current dimensions,” he said, “but we are concerned if new fires occur in the area.”

More than 5,600 firefighters continued to respond to the Palisades fire on Sunday, about the same number as the day before.

Melanie Miller, the Palisades incident public information officer, said crews were conducting “contingency planning” to prepare for more wind and were in a holding phase to see if a change in measures was needed or if some resources were needed could be released.

Other regions affected by the warning include Santa Monica and the San Gabriel Valley. Areas outside the red flag warning zone include the LA Basin, such as downtown LA, Torrance and Long Beach, as well as the coastal counties of San Diego and Orange.

Malibu resident Kathy King prepared for what might come with the winds.

“I’m worried that we’re going to have a repeat of what we saw a week ago, 10 days ago,” she said while shopping Sunday. “We know that once a fire has started, it is very difficult to deal with it.”

Her home near Point Dume survived the Woolsey fire in 2018, when nearly every other home on her street burned. But the Palisades fire destroyed the real estate office where she works in Pacific Palisades. The new weather warning puts you on high alert.

“I can’t even sleep if they predict that because I think I have to be ready to jump in the car,” King said.

Michelle Harrison and her husband lost their home in an unincorporated area of ​​L.A. County just outside Malibu city limits when the Palisades fire broke out on Jan. 7.

Now Harrison fears for those who could face even more threatening weather in Malibu this week.

“It’s just tragic,” she said. “I hope they have enough firefighters here, which I believe they have now, to stop any fires that may break out in the coming days.”

Because this is more of a traditional Santa Ana wind event, with winds blowing from the east-northeast, Ventura County will be an area of ​​high concern.

Areas of greatest concern in LA County include the western San Fernando Valley, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, the western San Gabriel Mountains and the Grapevine section of Interstate 5.

Residents should secure loose outdoor items such as patio furniture; Adjust travel times between Monday evening and Tuesday morning. charging electronic devices, flashlights and batteries; refill the fuel tanks of emergency generators; and move cars away from trees that appear fragile, Schoenfeld said.

Experts warn against keeping certain items such as garden furniture, umbrellas, rubbish and recycling bins within 1.5 meters of your home. It is also a good idea to remove any dead or living weeds, as well as clearing gutters, roofs, patios, porches and stairs of flammable materials such as leaves and needles.

“And then when there is wind, stay away from trees and windows. And again, be extremely careful about anything that could start a fire,” Schoenfeld said.

The gusts could be so strong that they could overturn large drilling rigs and RVs and trigger power outages that could last several days, the weather service said. And on Sunday evening, county health officials issued a dust and ash alert, warning that expected gusts could spread ash throughout the county and impact air quality — particularly in areas downwind of the recent burn scars.

Very dry conditions are expected throughout the week, with Tuesday being the driest, the weather service said. Relative humidity could drop to as low as 5% in the western San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Fillmore.

Fire weather concerns will continue throughout the week, Schoenfeld said, with additional Santa Ana winds possible through Thursday. The weather service could end the warning on Tuesday or extend it through Thursday.

There is some chance of rain in about a week. But at this point, it doesn’t appear to be the kind of drenching that would be needed to end the fire season, Schoenfeld said.

According to Schoenfeld, there is about a 50 to 70 percent chance of rain and a 20 to 30 percent chance of thunderstorms from January 25th to 27th.

“It doesn’t look like a real drenching rain for much of the area,” Schoenfeld said. “This is, quite frankly, bad news for our future fire weather season.”

Times staff writers Melody Gutierrez and Libor Jany contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.