Gusty Santa Ana winds are again blowing through much of Southern California through the middle of the week along with low humidity, setting the scene for potential wildfire dangers as some school districts in San Diego County announced they were closing for the day.
Crews were also at the scene of a brush fire in Ramona Tuesday morning, which is now 100% contained per Cal Fire.
#Highland5Fire [Final]The fire’s final acreage is 1.8 acres and is 100% contained. pic.twitter.com/OU35PcFizl
— CAL FIRE/San Diego County Fire (@CALFIRESANDIEGO) December 10, 2024
Meanwhile, the San Diego County Office of Education announced that it would be closing some schools in districts throughout the county Tuesday, due to the weather and related power shutoffs.
The affected districts are:
- Dehesa School District
- Jamul-Dulzura Union School District
- Julian Union Elementary School District
- Julian Union High School District
- Mountain Empire School District
- Ramona Unified School District
- Spencer Valley School District
- Vallecitos School District
- Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District
- Warner Unified School District
Del Lago Academy in Escondido Union High School District and Vivian Banks Charter School in Bonsall Unified School District are also closed due to power shutoffs.
A red flag warning indicating critical fire danger conditions will be in effect until 4 a.m. Wednesday for mountains and inland valleys throughout San Diego County.
Please be fire weather aware over the next few days across the mountains and valleys. Let's do our part to create one less spark! ? #CAwx #FireWeather https://t.co/HQfKmNEFca
— NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) December 9, 2024
“Relative humidity values below 10 percent combined with these strong winds will create critical fire weather conditions on Tuesday,” said the National Weather Service.
“Winds will diminish through Wednesday. A few degrees of cooling is expected for Thursday and Friday which will bring temperatures to near to slightly above average. The marine layer is expected to recover and deepen Thursday into Friday.”
Northeast and east winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour are also expected, with local gusts possible up to 60 mph in valley areas, and up to 65 mph in some mountains and passes.
“Winds will be strongest in east-west oriented passes, such as the San Gorgonio Pass and San Diego County mountains and foothills,” the NWS said.
Forecasters noted that humidity levels could fall to as low as 5%, creating a combination of windy and dry conditions that cause rapidly spreading wildfires.
“Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly,” forecasters said. “Outdoor burning is not recommended. Winds could damage outdoor property and will make for difficult driving conditions.”
Cal Fire officials issued a statement also urging residents to use caution and avoid any activities that could ignite a wildfire.
San Diego Gas & Electric said it has notified nearly 117,500 customers that they might temporarily lose service to reduce the chance of wildfires.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service issued a rare “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning for high fire risk into Tuesday for Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
The last time PDS red flags went up was the first week of November, when powerful, dry winds fed the Mountain Fire, which destroyed at least 240 buildings, mostly homes, in Ventura County.
Before that, a PDS red flag warning had not been issued for the region since 2020.
“This event has the potential to be as strong as the November 5th-6th Santa Ana event that led to the Mountain Fire,” the weather service office for Los Angeles said Sunday on social media.
Southern California Edison said it was considering targeted power shut-offs for more than 250,000 homes and businesses across seven counties starting Monday evening.
Santa Anas are dry, warm and gusty northeast winds that blow from the interior of Southern California toward the coast and offshore. They typically occur during the fall months and continue through winter and into early spring.
City News Service and Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was updated with details on school closures and the Highland 5 Fire in Ramona on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024 at 7:33 a.m.
