Santa Ana winds pick up, threatening fire-ravaged Los Angeles anew

Published on 14 January 2025 at 01:52

The blazes are still raging. And this week the so-called Santa Ana or "Devil" winds are back. This is what it could mean.

 

Santa Ana winds are hot, dry winds that blow in from the northeast.

They pick up speed as they hit the mountains around LA, and send humidity levels plunging, further upping the fire risk.

 

Although investigators are still confirming the spark of each fire, these winds have largely been blamed for last week turning the wildfires into infernos that razed entire neighbourhoods to the ground.

Adding fuel to the fire has been the impacts of climate change, which is making the weather hotter and drier, creating tinderbox conditions that allow fires to balloon.

 

Los Angeles has had no significant rainfall in over eight months, even during what is now supposed to be the wetter season.

 

In the early hours of last Tuesday, weather chiefs issued a rare "particularly dangerous situation" red flag warning as they braced for violent winds.

It was "about as bad as it gets in terms of fire weather", the National Weather Service (NWS) Los Angeles said.

 

Fears of further destruction rocketed, the wind threatening to reverse progress firefighters had made in containing the fires.

It will bring hot, dry north-easterly winds of 30-40mph, with gusts up to 65mph.

 

Tuesday will be the most dangerous day, fire behaviour analyst Dennis Burns warned at a community meeting on Sunday.

The warnings cover the areas of Calabasas and Agoura Hills, Eastern San Gabriel Mountains, Malibu Coast and Santa Clarita Valley.

"Critical fire weather is expected, so PLEASE have multiple ways of getting notifications in case of new fires," NWS urged.

 


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