Intense Santa Ana winds to resume early this week around Los Angeles

Alyssa Glenny
·2-min read

Following the devastating fires that expanded across areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties over the last week and resulted in multiple fatalities, AccuWeather forecasters warn that another round of dangerous Santa Ana winds are expected early this week.

A trough developing offshore from Southern California paired with high pressure centered over the West will create yet another setup for dry, offshore winds from Monday to Wednesday.

"The magnitude and timing of the most intense wind gusts early week will depend on the location of a storm off the Pacific Coast," explained AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok.

Forecasters warn that this upcoming round of strong winds from Monday to early Wednesday can rival the initial event that allowed the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst Fires to rapidly spread, with gusts to 60-80 mph possible across the cities of Ventura and Santa Clarita.

Even winds of this magnitude can make firefighting efforts extremely challenging and cause ongoing blazes to spread hastily. The AccuWeather Local StormMax™ for this wind event is 100 mph, and is most likely in the higher terrain and mountains surrounding the Los Angeles basin.

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"The winds are expected to be gusty from the northeast-to-east direction during the early week period with humidity levels remaining low," added Pastelok.

Relative humidity levels are expected to generally remain below 20-30% early week across much of Southern California. The dry setting paired with the return of blustery conditions will mean a continuance of the extreme fire threat throughout the region.

The dry landscape is in dire need of moisture, forecasters say. The parched vegetation has provided a ready supply of fuels for area fires scorching the region.

"Dating back to April of last year, Los Angeles has not yet crested the 1-inch mark for rainfall. This is a period when downtown L.A. typically receives between 5-6 inches of rain," highlighted AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

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Unfortunately, locations across the Southwest and portions of the South Central states are projected to remain below the historical average through the remainder of January. The dryness factor may keep the fire risk elevated for many locations.

As we continue to monitor the intensity of the upcoming wind threat returning to Southern California early week, forecasters are also watching for the chance for winds to surge once again later in the period. Although, one main difference for the midweek pattern could be slightly higher moisture levels.

"The wind could subside from late Tuesday into Wednesday [across Southern California]. However, the wind could change direction and increase again midweek, this time onshore. This should increase humidity levels some," noted Pastelok.

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