Critical fire conditions in Los Angeles may extend into Friday as strong, erratic winds persist

An ongoing surge of Santa Ana winds is expected to last into early next week in much of Southern California, with the potential for critical fire weather conditions in Los Angeles County to extend into Friday.

Extreme fire weather conditions and damaging northern winds will to continue into Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 8, with recorded gusts of 85 mph during the morning in the Malibu and Topanga Canyon area, where the raging Pacific Palisades fire continues to burn. High 30 to 40 mph northern winds in coastal and downtown Los Angeles are expected to drop off Wednesday evening, remaining in the 15 to 30 mph range by Thursday morning.

“You’ll still see wind, but considerably less than what we’ve been seeing,” NWS meteorologist Mike Wofford said.

Temperatures will remain in the low to mid 70s until the weekend, with highs in the mid to upper 60s on Saturday and Sunday through most of the county.

The Interstate 5 corridor, San Fernando and San Gabriel Valley will see higher winds at 30 to 50 mph until Wednesday evening, with widespread gusts between 60 to 80 and isolated gusts up to 100 mph. The Eaton Fire in Altadena, which has burned over 2,000 acres and led to evacuations for all of La Canada Flintridge, continues to grow due to the combined low humidity and high winds, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

Areas of greater concern for damaging winds include Valley foothill communities, as well as Sylmar, where the Hurst fire has expanded to 500 acres Wednesday morning.

Expect another bump up in winds, from the 30 to 50 mph range Thursday night going into Friday, followed by another drop down Saturday and even weaker winds Sunday. There could be a chance of another Santa Ana wind event next week, similar to conditions expected for Friday, Wofford said.

A red flag warning, which is set to expire Thursday evening, could be extended into Friday. Dry conditions will continue throughout the county with humidity levels under 25 percent and as low as 10 percent in some areas.