Jan 7, 2025 - News

Powerful Santa Ana winds bring fire risk to San Diego

Andrew Keatts

The Palisades Fire approaches homes in Los Angeles — A powerful windstorm caused a fire near homes in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Southern California is on high alert as the National Weather Service warned of a "life-threatening and destructive" windstorm in the Los Angeles area Tuesday.

Why it matters: The threat is moving south Wednesday, and NWS forecasters are using unusually outspoken terms to caution Southern California residents of the fire risk presented by dry conditions combining with powerful Santa Ana winds.

Driving the news: The NWS issued a red flag warning for eastern San Diego County from Wednesday morning through 6pm.

A red flag warning means critical fire weather conditions are occurring, or will soon.
NWS categorized parts of L.A. at the highest-possible "extremely critical" wildfire risk, while parts of the I-15 corridor in San Diego were rated "critical" and the western part of the county still came in as "elevated."

What we're watching: SDG&E has alerted over 65,000 residents to the possibility that they could be subject to power shut offs through Friday afternoon to prevent wildfire risk, though none have occurred as of Tuesday afternoon.

That includes residents in Encinitas, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Santa Fe, Poway, and Santee, along with points further east.

Go deeper: Rapidly growing Palisades Fire forces 30,000 to evacuate in L.A.

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Powerful Santa Ana winds bring fire risk to San Diego

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