The National Weather Service (NWS) has reinstated the “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red flag warnings for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura on Wednesday as gusty winds are expected. The warnings had been dropped on Tuesday due to lower-than-expected winds.
While Wednesday’s winds are not expected to be as strong as last week, winds across higher elevations could exceed 50 miles per hour. Widespread lower elevations could also see wind gusts up to 50 mph which could cause any new fires to quickly spread out of control.
While the PDS red flag warning will continue to cover the Eaton Fire, the weather service said “winds in the Palisades fire area are expected to remain on the lower side of wind forecast”.
The PDS red flag warning covers the following areas:
- Western San Gabriel Mountains along the I-5 Corridor
- Southern Ventura County Mountains
- Santa Susana Mountains
- Ventura Valleys (Near Simi Valley, Moorpark, Santa Paula and South Mountain)
- Western Santa Monicas
- Western San Fernando Valley (Highways 118 and 210 from Porter Ranch to San Fernando)
- Calabasas
- Agoura Hills
- Ventura County Coastal Plains
The majority of the regular red flag warnings are set to expire across Southern California by 6 p.m. PT Wednesday.
Conditions are expected to begin to improve Thursday with winds expected to continue to decrease. The current forecast calls for gusts of 30 mph on Thursday and for the remainder of the red flag warnings to expire.
The preliminary forecast through the weekend is for cooler and more humid air to move over Southern California, which can help to alleviate some of the dry air that has been ongoing across the region.
While this weather is more favorable, the primary source of relief would come in the form of rounds of rainfall over the region. Unfortunately, rainfall is not in the forecast for the next seven days and doesn’t seem likely through the end of the month. Below average rainfall is expected through at least the first week of February, which is usually Southern California’s wettest month.
