Santa Ana winds return means increased fire risk, possible power shut-offs for Southern California

LOS ANGELES — Southern California’s notorious Santa Ana winds were predicted to return Monday night and utilities said they are prepared to cut power to hundreds of thousands of customers in areas where strong gusts could damage electrical equipment and spark wildfires.

The National Weather Service issued a rare “particularly dangerous situation,” or PDS, 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 hadn’t 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. Meanwhile San Diego Gas & Electric said it has notified nearly 117,500 customers that they might temporarily lose service to reduce the chance of wildfires.

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.

In Northern California, the weather service said chances were increasing for an “impactful rainfall event” late in the week for the San Francisco Bay Area.