Meteorologists spotted the fire danger coming well in advance and used some of the most extreme wording and alerts in their arsenal to get the message out. Early this week, forecasters warned this setup looked concerningly similar to setups that have produced some of the worst fires in Southern California history.
On Tuesday, the Storm Prediction Center highlighted parts of Ventura County and Los Angeles County with a level 3 of 3 extremely critical fire weather risk on Wednesday when the fires broke out. It was the first such risk issued for the area since 2020’s devastating wildfire season.
A “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning started Wednesday and continued Thursday for the same areas, according to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles. It’s the most extreme form of fire weather warning available to the weather service.
“This is a dangerous fire weather event,” the service warned Tuesday. “Any new fires… will have rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior.”
