Vast areas of Southern California have been warned by weather officials to brace for a “life-threatening and destructive” windstorm driven by strong Santa Ana winds across Tuesday.
The offshore winds will be dry, unpredictable and strong – possibly up to 100 mph – in more exposed areas. Power shutoffs are already being implemented ahead of the expected weather tumult.
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued several warnings including a red flag warning and a high wind specifically warning for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
The NWS said there is an extreme risk of fire weather conditions, CBS News reports.
A high wind advisory will go into effect at 4 p.m. Tuesday and will remain until 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Some of the locations with the greatest concern:
118 and 210 corridors
Santa Monica mountains and foothills
San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys
Pasadena
Burbank
Hollywood
Sylmar
Malibu
Weather officials urge residents to stay indoors and away from windows. Damaging wind gusts could reach up to 80 mph while isolated gusts for mountain and foothill areas could reach up to 100 mph.
The NWS said people should use extreme caution with any sources that could ignite a fire. They’ve issued a fire weather watch from Thursday into Friday.
The low humidity and dry vegetation conditions combined could spark the wildfires.
Southern California Edison on Tuesday announced it had turned off power to more than 4,200 customers in parts of the Inland Empire and L.A. County and that another 4,700 customers could be impacted later.