Santa Ana winds blowing into Southern California, concerns about wildfires increase
Strong Santa Ana winds are expected to blow into Southern California Thursday, Oct. 9, increasing risks of wildfires and leading to warnings of power shut offs to more than 170,000 households in the area.
The wind system could bring gusts of 70 mph to areas in LA County and 60 mph gusts to areas of Orange County and the Inland Empire, forecasters say. Combined with the warmer temperatures and lower humidity is a recipe for wildfires.
“We get high pressure that’s centered over the mountains … with that comes the northern and easterly winds that pick up,” National Weather Service meteorologist Adam Roser said. That’s what’s happening with the weather system that’s moving in late Wednesday, Oct. 9, into Thursday morning.
Cal Fire is increasing staffing levels statewide as the potential for a large, destructive fire increases and the National Weather Service has issued red-flag warnings for much of the region. October and November is a time when the state tends to see increased fire activity, Cal Fire officials have said, and last year, the Woolsey fire and the deadly Camp fire started on the same day in November.
Fire agencies throughout Southern California are also increasing staffing as they prepare for the weather event.
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The Orange County Fire Authority is staffing more firefighters in its service area starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The increased levels will stay in place through 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12. Teams of hand crews, helicopters and bulldozers area also ready to respond, the agency said Wednesday.
In Los Angeles County, fire officials will have strike teams staffed with six engine companies in the Calabasas and Santa Clarita areas, in addition to hand crews ready in La Cañada Flintridge, according to Austin Bennett with the LA County Fire Department. All of those areas are at high risk for wildfires, Bennett said. The staffing bumps are expected Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department Capt. Fernando Herrera said staffing increases are also set to take place in the Inland areas, particularly the Beaumont, Banning and Coachella Valley areas, as well as any mountain areas and portions of the Santa Ana Mountains. Though their aircraft — air tankers and helicopters — are ready for use, Herrera said they will be unable to fly if the forecasted 70 mph wind gusts are sustained.
Such high speed winds become a safety risk for air units and may also impact the accuracy of water and fire retardant drops, gusts blowing the useful liquid and chemicals astray.
Without aircraft, which helps hold a fire in place, all pressure lands on the grounds crews.
“You lose the ability to target drops,” Herrera said. “That’s the other downfall to the wind. We have to rely only on the boots on the ground.”
Fire personnel in the San Bernardino National Forest are similarly extending staffing to do 24-hour monitoring in case a fire ignites overnight.
Warnings by utility companies have also increased as they prepare for the arrival of the Santa Ana winds on Thursday, which will kick off 24-to-36 hours of extreme gusts, Roser said.
About 120,000 of the at-risk Southern California Edison customers are in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Many of those affected are in foothills and mountainous areas. Other counties affected include Inyo, Kern, Mono, Tulare and Ventura.
MAP: SCE says power outages could come to these areas
On Wednesday night, the gusts will gradually grow from 5 mph and the humidity will drop. The winds aren’t likely to impact Game 5 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium since the heavy winds won’t arrive until morning.
Low humidity is caused by cold air and a drying-out effect that happens when the gusts blow across mountain slopes.
“It’s going to feel a lot drier when (people) wake up in the morning,” Roser said.
According to the SCE website, the company analyzes historical data to help predict the likelihood of a wildfire.
“During these events, we may need to proactively shut off power temporarily as a result of elevated weather conditions … that can cause a power line to fall and spark, possibly creating a wildfire.”
An outage will last “as long as the dangerous fire weather conditions exist,” according to SCE. Once the circuits are shut off, they and power lines need to be inspected so make sure there will be no dangers when turned back on.
By Wednesday evening, 65 customers in Kern County had been affected by SCE shutoffs.
In other parts of the state, power companies have planned to cut service to hundreds of thousands of customers in hopes of reducing fire risk brought on by the windy conditions.