The strong Santa Ana winds that whipped flames into deadly and destructive wildfires last week are expected to again blow through Los Angeles this week, prompting dire warnings from forecasters and fire officials.
With no rain on the horizon, fuels will remain dry and firefighters battling the ongoing blazes will get little reprieve.
The National Weather Service issued its most serious red flag warning from early Tuesday through midday Wednesday across large areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, an advisory reserved for the “extreme of the extreme fire weather scenarios.”
The agency has issued three other “particularly dangerous situation” warnings in the last three months. Each of them precipitated a significant wildfire, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned Sunday, saying that fire crews will be pre-positioned around Southern California and emergency responders will be prepared.
“This setup is about as bad as it gets,” the National Weather Service posted on X.