The National Weather Service has issued a rare warning as the area faces incredibly high winds, soon. The ‘Extreme Red Flag’ Warning kicks-in at 11:00 pm Tuesday, extending to 6:00 pm Thursday.
Major concerns, of course, are for additional fires. But the still-smoldering Getty Fire, which began well before dawn Monday, is only 15% contained – and could be dangerously energized by the intense Santa Ana winds.
Here’s what the early afternoon Tuesday fire weather message from the National Weather Service explains:
...EXTREME RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM TUESDAY THROUGH 6 PM THURSDAY PDT FOR MUCH OF LOS ANGELES AND VENTURA COUNTIES DUE TO STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS AND VERY LOW HUMIDITIES...
A strong Santa Ana wind event is expected tonight through Thursday, and could be one of the strongest of recent memory. Damaging wind gusts between 50 and 70 mph are expected over most of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, with isolated gusts to around 80 mph likely. Although the air is cold, humidities will lower to the single digits nearly everywhere by Wednesday or Thursday, and down to 1 or 2 percent in the driest windiest locations.
Overnight recoveries Wednesday night will be near zero. This all adds up to an extreme fire weather threat. Use extreme caution with any potential ignition sources, and residents in high fire risk areas should be ready and set to evacuate if emergency officials say so.