LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A windstorm that forecasters described as potentially destructive and life-threatening will develop across the Southland Tuesday morning, dramatically raising the risk of wildfires for the next several days.
“Residents across Southern California are urged to remain vigilant and monitor the latest forecasts,” the National Weather Service advised. “There is high confidence in strong offshore winds with the potential to be the strongest wind event of the season, especially for the Southland valleys. Trees, large tree branches, and power lines may be downed by the wind … Residents living the near the foothills and mountains are advised to review the `Ready, Set, Go!’ fire plan. Most residents should be in the `Set’ stage and being prepared to go in the event of the fire evacuation.”
Red flag warnings of critical fire danger will take effect at 4 a.m. Tuesday and remain in place until 6 p.m. Thursday for the Malibu coast, the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the San Gabriel Valley, the San Fernando Valley, Calabasas, the Santa Clarita Valley, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the Golden State (5) and Antelope Valley (14) freeway corridors.
At 4 p.m. Tuesday, the warning will extend to include Los Angeles County beaches, the Palos Verdes Hills and the inland Los Angeles County coast, stretching into downtown Los Angeles.
“Confidence is high for a life threatening, destructive, widespread windstorm Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning, especially focused on the L.A. County mountains and foothills, San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, Hollywood/Beverly Hills, and Simi Valley,” according to a statement from the National Weather Service. “… With widespread damaging winds likely from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday across portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, there will be a high risk for downed trees and power lines, as well as power outages.
“There is also the potential for strong north to northeast winds for the LA county coast, especially Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, and Sepulveda Pass, extending into Palos Verdes and Catalina Island late Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday, resulting in the red flag warning for these areas. There is a high probability of strong mountain wave wind conditions during the peak of the event Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning, which will likely bring strong/damaging winds to areas that typically do not see strong winds, including portions of the San Gabriel Valley and San Fernando Valley, LA Basin, and Simi Valley.”
According to the NWS, Santa Ana winds could gust at speeds of 60 to 80 mph — with some ridgetops seeing gusts topping 90 mph — in western L.A. County valleys, the Santa Monica Mountains and into Malibu.
Forecasters warned particularly of the possibility of “breaking mountain waves.”
“These occur when very strong winds aloft intercept mountain tops at nearly perpendicular angles which will happen with these events,” according to the NWS. “These short lived and very difficult to predict events can cause considerable local damage wherever they occur. The most likely areas for this phenomena are the eastern San Fernando Valley and the northern San Gabriel Valley.”
Humidity levels are also expected to drop, most notably on Wednesday, creating dry conditions that could amplify the fire danger.
Forecasters said that despite the Santa Ana winds, temperatures across the region could actually fall by 5 to 10 degrees on Tuesday due to the amount of cold air accompanying the system. But the temperatures will bounce back on Wednesday, recovering those 5 to 10 degrees.
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