Windmill turning
Santa Ana winds rotate a windmill in the back country. Photo courtesy National Weather Service

Winds began gaining strength across Southern California on Tuesday, as forecasters warned that powerful, dry gusts could bring down trees, damage homes, and bring extreme fire risk to the region after months without much rain.

The National Weather Service said what could be the strongest windstorm in more than a decade would begin in the afternoon across Los Angeles and Ventura counties and peak in the early hours of Wednesday, when winds could reach 80 miles an hour. San Diego County will also be affected, though not as dramatically.

Isolated gusts could top 100 mph in mountains and foothills.

Locally, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department is providing two crews for a strike team to be available throughout the county in case of a fire in the area.

San Diego Fire-Rescue will have access to five state Office of Emergency Services brush engines until Thursday.

The National Weather Service is warning of possible downed power lines and toppled big rigs, trailers, and motorhomes. Strong offshore gusts will also bring dangerous conditions off the coasts, including Catalina Island, and potential delays and turbulence could arise at local airports.

A particularly dangerous situation is expected for inland Orange County, the Santa Ana Mountains, the Inland Empire, and the San Bernardino foothills from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday.

“The strongest and most widespread winds are expected for tonight into Wednesday with the greatest potential for damaging winds along and below the coastal slopes of the mountains,” said San Diego NWS in a discussion. “The winds will diminish on Wednesday night. The winds on Thursday will not be as strong, but still gust to 40 to 50 mph in the windier locations.”

San Diego Gas & Electric said it could shut off service to more than 64,000 customers.

“This week marks the driest start to the rainy season in San Diego County in 174 years,” the service said.

“As a result of these dry conditions and expected Santa Ana winds, the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for parts of Orange and San Diego Counties beginning Tuesday evening through late Wednesday night. SDG&E’s meteorology team is closely monitoring weather conditions.”

In recent years, California utilities have routinely de-energized electrical lines as a precaution against weather conditions that might damage equipment and spark a fire.

Southern California Edison said it was considering preemptively cutting power starting Tuesday to more than 415,000 utility customers across seven counties.

Recent dry winds, including the notorious Santa Anas, have contributed to warmer-than-average temperatures in Southern California, where there has been very little rain so far this season.

Southern California has only seen around 0.1 inches of rain since early May. Much of the region has fallen into moderate drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Meanwhile, in northern California, there have been multiple drenching storms.

Areas where gusts could create extreme fire conditions include the charred footprint of last month’s wind-driven Franklin Fire, which damaged or destroyed 48 structures, mostly homes, in and around Malibu.

The blaze was one of nearly 8,000 wildfires that added up to scorch more than 1,560 square miles (more than 4,040 square kilometers) in the Golden State last year.

The last wind event of this magnitude occurred in November 2011, during which more than 400,000 customers lost power across LA County, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“The grid is built to withstand strong winds,” said Jeff Monford, a spokesperson for the utility. “The issue here is the possibility of debris becoming airborne and hitting wires … or a tree coming down.”

Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report. This story was updated with more detail on Jan. 7, 2025 at 1:54 p.m.