Southern California faces another ‘particularly dangerous situation’ fire risk this week
Another round of high winds with very low humidity levels prompted forecasters to issue a ‘particularly dangerous situation’ (PDS) red flag warning for portions of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties through much of Tuesday and Wednesday.
We’ll see another Santa Ana wind event develop across portions of southern California beginning early Tuesday morning and continuing through Wednesday afternoon. Wind gusts of 55-70 mph are possible in some areas. While this isn’t quite as severe as the Santa Ana wind event we saw last week, it’s more than enough to fuel extreme fire behavior throughout the region.
“Areas in the red flag warning (especially during the PDS time frame) will have a high risk for large fires with very rapid fire spread, extreme fire behavior, and long range spotting,” the National Weather Service said in its red flag warning on Monday.
The high-risk nature of this event prompted forecasters to add the wording “particularly dangerous situation” to the red flag warning draped across the region. This phrase, which is more commonly seen during severe thunderstorm outbreaks, emphasizes the threat to life and property posed by any fires that spark during these favorable conditions.
Santa Ana winds develop when high pressure to the east forces winds to blow up and over the Transverse Ranges that border the Los Angeles basin. These winds warm up and dry out as they descend the mountains and rush toward the coast, helping foster the rapid spread of ongoing fires as well as the easy ignition of new blazes.
Two major fires continued to burn throughout the Los Angeles metro area to start the week.
The Palisades Fire, located just west of Santa Monica, grew to 23,713 acres as of Monday afternoon, with the blaze only 13 percent contained.
The Eaton Fire, located just north of Pasadena, grew to 14,117 Acres as of Monday afternoon with crews managing to bring it to about 33 percent containment.
A resurgence of high winds and low humidity will likely fuel the growth and spread of these fires over the next couple of days—not to mention any additional fires that may spark during the red flag warnings.
Please remain alert for rapidly changing conditions over the next couple of days if you’re in an area prone to wildfires. Take extra care not to engage in any activities that could accidentally spark an out-of-control blaze, including stuff like flicking cigarettes on the ground and parking your vehicle on dry grass.
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