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A red flag warning will be issued for a wide swath of Southern California from Los Angeles to San Diego early Monday due to high winds in Santa Ana, the National Weather Service said.
Warm temperatures and low humidity, combined with dry, strong winds, will bring fire weather to the San Gabriel and Santa Monica Mountains, as well as parts of the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County, the weather service said. Interior areas of Orange County, all of Bernardino, and riverside county valleys and mountains will also be affected.
“This is pretty typical for this time of year,” said Sebastian Westerink, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego. “This is peak wind season in Santa Ana, so I think it’s at least a mild event.”
Wind gusts could reach about 80 miles per hour in the windiest corridors of Los Angeles and Ventura counties Monday night into Tuesday, officials said. Wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph are common in the mountains and passes near San Diego, and wind speeds can reach 105 mph.
The National Weather Service advises residents living near wildland boundaries to prepare to evacuate in the event of a wildfire and to avoid burning outdoors.
“If a fire occurs, it is likely to spread rapidly and could threaten life and property,” the warning states. “There is an increasing threat of fire weather conditions comparable to recent historic fires, such as the Mountain Fire and the Thomas Fire.”
Temperatures on Monday will drop further along the coast and into the low 70s inland, Westerink said. Humidity will be in the single digits near San Diego at about 7% and near Los Angeles at 5%, with isolated readings expected to be around 2%, according to the National Weather Service.
Santa Ana winds, which originate inland from cold, high-pressure air masses in the Great Basin, affect Southern California at this time of year and encourage wildfires. The National Weather Service said dry fuels also increase the risk of wildfires.
“This is very common in early December,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “I would be shocked if we didn’t have an event like this.”
The red flag warning will remain in place until early Wednesday morning.
Strong Santa Ana winds are believed to be the cause of a devastating wildfire in Camarillo last month. The fire started Nov. 6 and continued to burn for several days, scorching nearly 20,000 acres and destroying 243 buildings in neighboring communities in western Ventura County, according to data released by state fire officials. caused damage.
The fire was the third most destructive wildfire in Southern California since at least 2013, according to the tally.
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