“Life-Threatening” Winds To Intensify Overnight; Pacific Palisades Wildfire Forces 30,000 To Evacuate – Update

Denise Petski

7 January 2025 at 3:20 pm·5-min read

2nd UPDATE, 4 PM: Fierce winds that have been pummeling the Los Angeles area are expected to intensify overnight, fire officials said at an afternoon news conference. The most significant wind event is expected to occur between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Wednesday. Sustained north winds 35-45 mph are expected with gusts to 65 mph. Isolated gusts of 80 mph to 100 mph are possible, according to the National Weather Service.

A fast-moving wildfire driven by those powerful winds has burned more than 1,200 acres in Pacific Palisades. Multiple structures have burned and some 30,000 people are under evacuation orders, but no injuries have been reported.

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1st UPDATE, 12:20 PM: A fast-moving wildfire driven by powerful winds erupted in Pacific Palisades near Temescal Canyon at about 10:39 am Tuesday. The fire, which began near N. Piedra Morada Dr. quickly spread to 200 acres in less than an hour, threatening homes and forcing mandatory evacuations.

With local roads choked with traffic, some residents were evacuating on foot, according to Captain Eric Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The National Weather Service issued a stark warning Monday, of “life-threatening and destructive” winds for the Los Angeles and Ventura County areas. What could be the strongest Santa Ana windstorm in more than a decade began Tuesday with winds expected to peak early Wednesday. Gusts could reach 80 mph, with isolated gusts possibly topping 100 mph in mountains and foothills. Winds currently are forecast at 40-60 miles per hour and are expected to intensify throughout the day.

Red flag warnings of critical fire danger went into effect at 4 a.m. Tuesday and remain in place until 6 p.m. Thursday for the Malibu coast, the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the San Gabriel Valley, the San Fernando Valley, Calabasas, the Santa Clarita Valley, the San Gabriel Mountains, and the Golden State (5) and Antelope Valley (14) freeway corridors, according to the National Weather Service.

PREVIOUS, 7:45 AM: The Los Angeles area is bracing for potentially “life-threatening and destructive” winds beginning later today.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District announced it is closing all Malibu schools Tuesday due to dangerous weather conditions, but Santa Monica schools will remain open.

“Residents across Southern California are urged to remain vigilant and monitor the latest forecasts,” the National Weather Service advised.“There is high confidence in strong offshore winds with the potential to be the strongest wind event of the season, especially for the Southland valleys. Trees, large tree branches, and power lines may be downed by the wind.”

The National Weather Service issued a warning Monday for “life-threatening and destructive” winds for parts of LA and Ventura counties beginning today. North to northeast winds 25 to 40 mph with gusts between 60 and 80 mph, with isolated gusts of 80 to 100 mph across the mountains/foothills, are expected to begin Tuesday afternoon and last into Wednesday morning.

PREVIOUS, Jan. 6: Batten down the hatches. The National Weather Service has issued a warning for “life-threatening and destructive” winds for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties beginning Tuesday.

The NWS posted an alert on X Monday with a graphic of areas of greatest concern, with the headline “Extreme Risk – Take Immediate Action”. Areas expected to be most impacted include Pasadena, Burbank, San Fernando, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Simi Valley, Sylmar, Porter Ranch, Altadena, La Crescenta, Malibu as well as the San Gabriel/Santa Susana/Santa Monica mountains and foothills, San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys. NWS indicated the “greatest concern for the highway 118 to 210 corridor from Simi Valley to Claremont.”

The NWS says damaging winds also are expected outside of those areas. Forecasters are warning residents to stay indoors and away from windows and to expect widespread power outages. The weather service is likening the approaching windstorm to the devastating 2011 windstorm that pummeled Pasadena and and San Gabriel Valley foothills with hurricane-force winds that felled thousands of trees, downed hundreds of power lines, displaced scores of residents and left hundreds of thousands without power, some for a week.

North to northeast winds 25 to 40 mph with gusts between 60 and 80 mph, with isolated gusts of 80 to 100 mph across the mountains/foothills, are expected to begin Tuesday afternoon and last into Wednesday morning. Red Flag warnings also are in effect for much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties Tuesday through Thursday, due to low relative humidities. The fire danger will be especially acute on Wednesday.

Unlike a Santa Ana event, however, the winds will be colder than normal, with highs on Tuesday 5-10 degrees below normal.

The region is still recovering from the wind-driven Mountain Fire that destroyed more than 130 structures north of Los Angeles and forced thousands of evacuations in early November.

HEADS UP!!! A LIFE-THREATENING, DESTRUCTIVE, Widespread Windstorm is expected Tue afternoon-Weds morning across much of Ventura/LA Co. Areas not typically windy will be impacted. See graphic for areas of greatest concern. Stay indoors, away from windows, expect poweroutages. #LA pic.twitter.com/yl83LxeMEc
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) January 6, 2025

Tom Tapp and City News Service contributed to this report.

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