Intense Santa Ana winds resume around Los Angeles
Following the devastating fires that expanded across areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties over the last week and resulted in multiple fatalities, AccuWeather forecasters warn that the second major round of dangerous Santa Ana winds is expected to continue into midweek.
A storm developing offshore from Southern California paired with high pressure centered over the West is creating yet another setup for dry, offshore winds into Wednesday.
Forecasters warn that this round of strong winds that began on Monday and will continue into early Wednesday can rival the initial event in some areas that allowed the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst Fires to rapidly spread, with gusts to 40-60 mph possible.
The AccuWeather Local StormMax™ for this wind event is 100 mph and is most likely in the higher terrain and mountains surrounding the Los Angeles basin.
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Winds in the immediate Los Angeles basin should not be quite as strong as that of the extreme and rare event last week. However, winds of any sort will pose a fire risk even in the most urban areas of L.A.
Winds of the magnitude forecast can make firefighting efforts extremely challenging and cause ongoing blazes to spread hastily.
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"The winds are expected to be gusty from the northeast-to-east direction into Wednesday period with humidity levels remaining low," added Pastelok.
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"Due to the high-velocity winds anticipated once again for part of the region, any fire that breaks out could be extremely fast-moving," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski warned. "Any fire still burning from last week's event could jump containment lines, and burning embers could be carried long distances and spark new spot fires."
Relative humidity levels are expected to generally remain below 20-30% into Wednesday across much of Southern California. The dry setting paired with the return of blustery conditions will mean a continuance of the extreme fire threat throughout the region.
The dry landscape is in dire need of moisture, forecasters say. The parched vegetation has provided a ready supply of fuels for area fires scorching the region.
"Dating back to April of last year, Los Angeles has not yet crested the 1-inch mark for rainfall. This is a period when downtown L.A. typically receives between 5-6 inches of rain," highlighted Sosnowski.
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Unfortunately, rainfall in locations across the Southwest and portions of the South Central states are projected to remain below the historical average through the remainder of January. The dryness factor may keep the fire risk elevated for many locations.
As offshore winds subside from Wednesday to Thursday, a more routine influx of moisture from the Pacific with light winds is likely to occur later this week into the start of the weekend.
"Higher humidity levels tend to reduce the risk of new fires and may help with firefighting efforts, Sosnowski said, "Still, a large established fire can compensate by drying out and heating up the local landscape. It is possible that breezes from the opposite direction could assist firefighting efforts by naturally forcing the fire back toward previously burnt areas."
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There is the potential for another moderate to strong Santa Ana wind event event for early next week.
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