First Santa Ana winds of season bring fire danger to L.A. Thursday and Friday

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Set us as preferred The season’s first Santa Ana wind event will begin Wednesday and ramp up Thursday, bringing significant fire risk to parched Los Angeles County.Between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon, large swaths of Southern California will see sustained winds of 20 to 40 miles per hour and gusts from 40 to 60 miles per hour, according to Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Oxnard.In the windiest mountain locations, gusts could reach up to 70 miles per hour, he said.“In this environment where it’s going to be windy but also dry and warm” — with humidity between 5% and 15% in much of the region and high temperatures of 85 to 95 degrees — fire risk will be a major concern, he said.“Adding to that, the plants are very dry.”Although Southern California got some rain Sunday and Monday, most of it fell in areas south of Los Angeles County, Kittell said, leaving Los Angeles and Ventura counties very dry.“There’s a high risk for any new fires to grow really fast,” he said.

The weather service issued red flag warnings for most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties that will be in effect Thursday and Friday.Areas west of the 405 Freeway are at a greater risk for wildfire than those east of the 405, which benefited from rain from post-Tropical Storm Rachel, said Daniel Swain, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources climate scientist.Some places received 2 to 5 inches of rain, while others in Southern California got essentially zero rain.“West of that point, almost no rain fell at all, and in early October we had a record-breaking heat wave,” Swain said.

“East of the 405 in Southern California, the fire risk is lower because it recently rained.”The fire fire risk isn’t nearly as bad as in January 2025, just prior to the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires, which de...