Santa Anas Ramp Up Again Overnight into Friday Keeping Critical Fire Weather Lingering

Expect gusty Santa Ana winds to intensify across Southern California later this afternoon, continuing through Friday morning. Winds will pick up in the mountains and valleys, with gusts ranging from 45 to 60 mph, and isolated gusts exceeding 75 mph possible in some areas. 

These strong winds, combined with dangerously low humidity levels below 10%, will keep lingering critical fire weather conditions through Friday.

Fortunately, winds will start to decrease Friday afternoon, but fire weather lingers as we remain extremely dry. As winds decrease it's obvious the improvement we start to see in our fire outlook.

Looking ahead, a cooldown is expected this weekend into early next week, with milder Santa Ana winds returning again next week—though these won’t be nearly as extreme as what we’ve experienced this week.