Extreme winds from the north and northeast will continue to blow into the Los Angeles region through Wednesday morning, bringing gusts of up to 80 mph as firefighters battle fires.
“We’re still in the stronger wind period,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist at National Weather Service, noting that wind gusts Wednesday morning reached 75 mph in the La Cañada Flintridge area and 65 mph in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains.
But while red flag warnings will be in effect for Los Angeles County and much of Ventura County until 6 p.m. Thursday, the strong winds are forecast to taper off Wednesday afternoon as an ocean breeze blows onto the coast.
“We are expecting a fairly significant decrease as we get into the afternoon,” Wofford said. “We’ll probably still see some wind gusts — up to 20 to 40 miles per hour in the mountains and the San Fernando Valley — but quite a bit less than what we saw overnight and this morning.”
Wofford noted that the winds are likely to amp up again Wednesday evening, bringing up to 50-mph gusts. But he said winds of that speed are part of a more typical Santa Ana pattern.
“As we go forward and get out of this extreme situation, we should see much much lighter winds,” Wofford said. ”We’re basically in the traditional Santa Ana pattern for the next week.”
More than a thousand homes, businesses and other buildings have burned and at least two people are dead in wildfires burning across L.A. County.
In Pacific Palisades, the Palisades fire had charred more than 5,000 acres as of Wednesday morning, burning down to Pacific Coast Highway where it engulfed homes along the iconic stretch. About 1,000 structures, including many homes, have been destroyed in the fire, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a news conference Wednesday morning.
The Eaton fire, which broke out Tuesday evening, had burned more than 2,200 acres near Altadena and Pasadena whipped by gusts of up to 99 mph in the area. Two people have died in the Eaton fire and several others have been seriously injured in both the Eaton and Palisades fire, Marrone said.
The Hurst fire, which spread quickly during high winds overnight in Sylmar, had burned 500 acres. Extraordinarily powerful winds and gusts — of up to 99 mph — had been reported overnight.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Erik Scott said the Palisades fire was being fueled by strong Santa Ana winds and surrounding topography, “which makes it extremely challenging for us firefighters to really get a handle on it.”
More winds are expected Wednesday and Thursday. Likely the biggest growth to the fire is to the west, he said.
