Santa Ana wind poses significant threat to Southern California this week
An uptick in winds will occur from Monday to Tuesday across Southern California, raising the fire danger once again.
Although Santa Ana winds have weakened, Ken Clark has warned they are expected to continue. The fire risk at Southern California remains with lingering dry weather as of Jan. 21.
While gusty winds took a long break over Southern California this past weekend, allowing ample progress to be made in containing existing wildfires, AccuWeather meteorologists warn that winds will ramp up into Tuesday.
A strong zone of high pressure will build across the Rocky Mountains early this week. As this feature rotates clockwise across the region, it will support strong offshore winds across Southern California and help to fuel the next Santa Ana event.
Santa Ana winds will increase into early Tuesday, bringing the threat of damaging winds gusting from 60 to 80 miles per hour across the prone mountain regions surrounding Los Angeles. Spanning from Ventura to San Diego counties, gusty winds ranging from 40 to 60 mph can also occur.
This latest Santa Ana event will be typical of most with much of the Los Angeles basin being somewhat sheltered, unlike the hurricane-force winds that fueled fast-moving infernos a couple of weeks ago.
The overall wind threat is expected to persist through Tuesday, with a reduction in the Santa Ana winds later Tuesday evening.
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As a result of the breezy to windy conditions over the upcoming days across Southern California, the wildfire threat will remain elevated for much of this week. Because of the ongoing dryness and the winds expected, an extreme fire risk will exist from north and east of Los Angles to east of San Diego.
Active fires across the Los Angeles County include the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire. As of Monday morning, the containment of the Palisades Fire has risen to 61% with 23,713 acres impacted. The Eaton Fire is currently at 87% contained with 14,021 acres impacted, according to Cal Fire.
"Very dry conditions remain [across Southern California], combined with the expected winds, the number one concern again will be fires. Any fire that starts in the areas will be difficult, to impossible, to control," stated AccuWeather California Expert Ken Clark.
Great air quality concerns
In addition to the fire threat, experts warn that concerns regarding air quality remain heightened.
"Strong winds will easily pick up ash left behind by the numerous destroyed structures especially from the Palisades Fire. This ash can will easily become airborne and could create a serious health risk wherever the ash is blown to," noted Clark.
Another round of Santa Ana winds are forecast later this week. However, the late-week event is not likely to be as potent in terms of gusts as prior rounds.
The dry pattern continues
Through the remainder of the month, forecasters warn that there will be extremely limited opportunities for rain in the Los Angeles area and for much of Southern California. There is, however, some glimmer of hope.
Looking ahead, AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok notes that there is a possibility of rain Jan. 25-27, but it may not amount to much in terms of rainfall totals and could very well just be a few showers across portions of Southern California.
Any rain that occurs would be welcomed from a firefighting or fire prevention standpoint, as it will help to dampen the landscape even if only temporarily so.
"The best chance of rain over the next six weeks appears to be Feb. 10-23. If appreciable rain doesn’t occur then, it may turn dry into much of March, further exacerbating the situation," pointed out Pastelok.
In addition to the overall dry pattern ahead, temperatures will be on an upward trend over the upcoming week. Downtown Los Angeles is forecast to rise from the 60s Fahrenheit late last week through this weekend to the upper 70s by mid- to late next week.
Another cooling trend could occur by the upcoming weekend, bringing temperatures back closer to the historical average for this time of year.
Recent fires part of a tumultuous past year of natural disasters
AccuWeather Founder & Executive Chairman Dr. Joel N. Myers explains the toll recent wildfires have taken on the state of California and shares AccuWeather’s preliminary estimate of the economic impact.
Along with the tragic loss of life and hardships created, AccuWeather’s revised preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss from the fast-moving, wind-driven infernos in Southern California stands at $250 billion to $275 billion.
When combined with the nine additional weather disasters that AccuWeather issued preliminary estimates for in the past 12 months, AccuWeather Founder and Executive Chairman Dr. Joel N. Myers said. The company, based in State College, Pennsylvania, Wichita, Kansas and New York City, estimates that the total damage and economic loss from extreme weather events over the past year has skyrocketed to $693 billion to $799 billion. That figure is equivalent to nearly 3 percent of the United States annual gross domestic product.
“The catastrophic wildfires burning in Southern California combined with destructive hurricane impacts last year [including Beryl, Debby and Helene] have been the worst series of natural disasters in America since the Dust Bowl in the 1930s,” Myers said. "The Dust Bowl led to a massive migration west to California. Ninety years later, we expect these wildfires, the rising costs of rebuilding and recovery, the challenge of securing and affording insurance, as well as drought and water supply concerns will likely lead to a significant migration out of California over the next few years.”
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