LOS ANGELES – Southern California is once again at risk of fires because strong Santa Ana winds are expected to get stronger Monday night, putting even more people in danger in areas that are already dealing with a number of deadly wildfires.
The FOX Forecast Center said the dangerously high winds will happen from Tuesday to Wednesday. The long-lasting, multi-round fire weather event will last until the middle of the week.
The winds won’t be as strong as they were during last week’s historic and deadly event, but they will still be strong enough to make it harder to fight fires and speed up the spread of both new and old ones.
“Truly tragic scenes are becoming the norm across Southern California,” Britta Merwin, a meteorologist for FOX Weather, said. “Dozens of people are watching as their homes and other property burn down.” It’s actually in the thousands.”
Over the weekend, the number of big wildfires dropped from five to three, which is a relief, but the situation is still very bad.
Both the Palisades and Eaton fires have burned almost 38,000 acres, and they are still very far from being contained. This, along with the fact that strong winds are about to come, makes things very hard for firemen and raises the risk of the fire spreading even more.
For parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” Fire Weather Warning has been sent out.
“We’ve only had four of those, and the three previous ones that have happened in the past six months did result in fires,” he said. “That’s how we got the Mountain Fire, the Franklin Fire, and then, of course, the current situation that we’re in.”
The winds won’t be very strong all the time until Wednesday, but there will be a cycle of northeasterly winds that will reach 15 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. The FOX Forecast Center said that gusts of up to 70 mph could happen in the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and western Santa Monica Mountains.
The Palisades Fire, where wind gusts will be between 35 and 50 mph, is still the most dangerous place. On the plus side, the Eaton Fire should not be hit by as strong of winds as places north and west of where it is burning.
People who live in the affected areas are being asked to stay alert and follow any escape orders that are given.
Merwin said, “Thursday is the day we are waiting for when onshore winds will return.” This would make it easier for firemen to put out the fires.
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