Relentless Santa Ana winds continue raging through Southern California

The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid the fierce Santa Ana winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

LOS ANGELES – As the reality of the destruction wrought by the Southern California firestorm continued coming to light, fire crews hoped to take advantage of slightly diminished winds to establish containment lines around the various blazes before more Santa Ana winds return to the region.

Red flag warnings of critical fire danger will be in place for much of the LA area through 6 p.m. Friday.

The most serious gusts of the windstorm were recorded Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, diminishing overnight. But forecasters said the winds will again gain strength.

A resident hoses down hot spots in a fire-ravaged property after the Palisades Fire swept through in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia)

“While winds had diminished some last night, they are increasing and becoming more widespread today (Thursday) and will continue into Friday morning,” according to the National Weather Service.

“The strongest winds today into Friday morning will be across the mountains (including the Santa Susanas and Santa Monicas) and Santa Clarita Valley, where damaging wind gusts up to 65 mph can be expected, except isolated gusts to 75 mph in the San Gabriels, western Santa Monicas, and Santa Susana mountains.”

Forecasters noted that the winds are combining with humidity levels of just 7 percent to 15 percent to create dangerous conditions for wildfires.

“The increased Santa Ana winds today into Friday morning will bring high end red flag conditions to the wind prone mountains and valleys of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, as well as the Malibu coast,” according to the NWS. “The offshore winds are expected to diminish on Friday afternoon, with the potential for an onshore wind shift across many of the coastal areas.”

The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Additional Santa Ana winds were anticipated for Saturday, but another bout of “moderate to strong” winds is forecast for Monday into Tuesday — raising the urgency for fire crews to make progress subduing the fires.

Red flag warnings will be in effect through 6 p.m. Friday in the Santa Clarita Valley, Malibu Coast, Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Mountains, San Gabriel Valley and the Golden State (5) and Antelope Valley (14) freeway corridors.

Forecasters said those areas could see north to northeast winds of 20 to 35 mph, with gusts of 35 to 55 mph in wind-prone areas.
The Los Angeles County inland coastal area, stretching into downtown, will also be under a red flag warning until 6 p.m. Friday, with winds of 15 to 25 mph anticipated, along with gusts of up to 35 mph — possibly reaching 45 mph in the Hollywood Hills.

A red flag warning in the Antelope Valley, Antelope Valley foothills, Palos Verdes Hills and Catalina Island expired at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The winds were fueling multiple brush fires in the L.A. area, the largest being the nearly 20,000-acre blaze in Pacific Palisades. A body was found in the rubble of a burned-out home in Malibu on Thursday, believed to be the first death from the Palisades Fire.

Another massive brush fire in the Eaton Canyon area above Altadena has claimed at least five lives, while other blazes also burned in Sylmar and Acton. Additional blazes erupted Wednesday in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna on Thursday morning declined to update the number of possible fatalities, saying he was “not satisfied with some of the information” he was receiving.

“At one point we’ll be able to do a more thorough search of these impacted areas — some of them look like a bomb was dropped on them — where we will be able to bring in canines and other things to help us hopefully not discover too many fatalities,” Luna said. “That’s our priority. But this is a crisis and we don’t know what to expect but we’re ready for everything.”

Hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed in the blazes. Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said Thursday the number of damaged or destroyed structures in the Palisades Fire was believed to be in the thousands. An LAFD survey Thursday estimated the number of destroyed structures at 5,316.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said at least 1,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed in the Eaton Fire.
According to Luna, nearly 180,000 people in Los Angeles County were under evacuation orders due to the various wildfires, and another 200,000 were under evacuation warnings.

President Joe Biden approved a Major Disaster declaration for the state on Wednesday in response to the fires — some of which he was able to witness first-hand while wrapping up a short visit to the L.A. area. He received a briefing from fire officials before he left the Southland Wednesday afternoon.

Biden canceled an upcoming trip to Italy so he could “remain focused on directing the full federal response in the days ahead,” according to the White House.

On Tuesday night, a wind gust of 98 mph was reported in the Saddle Peak area of the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, NWS officials said.

A 97 mph gust was recorded in the eastern San Gabriel Mountains. Several other mountain areas recorded winds topping 80 mph.

In Orange County, a red flag warning that had been in place for coastal areas was canceled Wednesday afternoon as winds eased. But a red flag warning will be in place until 6 p.m. Friday in the Santa Ana Mountains and Orange County inland areas.

The dangerous winds prompted closure of the Los Angeles Zoo to the public on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it remained shuttered on Thursday.

Universal Studios Hollywood and the adjoining Universal CityWalk were closed for the second consecutive day Thursday.

All Los Angeles Unified School District schools were closed Thursday and will remain closed Friday. A host of other area districts also canceled classes Thursday. Schools in Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena will also be canceled Friday.

UCLA canceled all undergraduate classes for Thursday and Friday, and moved all graduate courses online.

The Pasadena City College campus will be closed through Sunday, according to a notice on its website, which said that operations are suspended and classes are canceled until that time.

Caltech advised online that it was closed Thursday, but intends to resume operations Friday, pending assessments of the situation.

Although the campus is not under direct threat from local fires, “gusty winds and smoky air continue to impact the campus” and hundreds of Caltech staff, faculty, and non-resident students have been affected, the school stated.

As is standard during high-fire-danger conditions, Southern California Edison customers in some areas could have their power turned off under the utility’s Public Safety Power Shutoffs program. The program is designed to de-energize power lines that could potentially be damaged and spark a wildfire during red flag conditions.

As of early Thursday afternoon, more than 35,000 SCE customers in Los Angeles County had their power cut due to the program, along with more than 2,000 in Orange County. Another 124,000 customers in Los Angeles County were under consideration for power cuts, along with nearly more than 35,000 in Orange County.

Updated information about power cuts is available here.

The city of Los Angeles imposed red flag parking restrictions at 8 a.m. Tuesday, continuing until further notice, likely for the duration of the wind event. The restrictions are designed to keep streets clear for emergency vehicles that may need to quickly access developing wildfires, and to ensure open roadways for residents who may need to evacuate. Pasadena city officials implemented similar parking restrictions. (CNS)