Meanwhile, moderate Santa Ana winds were expected over portions of Southern California into Friday afternoon, but locally breezy conditions will stay around until Saturday, federal forecasters said.
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A wind advisory will expire at 9 a.m.in the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains and the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys.
But the first Santa Ana wind event will begin by Thursday evening, bringing strong winds and dry conditions through Friday. Crystal Egger has the forecast for Thursday, October 29, 2015.
Strong winds were forecast to continue through Friday, with the strongest gusts expected in the mountain areas of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties, through and below the Cajon Pass, and into the Orange County coastal plain, according to the National Weather Service.
“It’s going to be a quick, but intense wind event”, said NBC4 forecaster Crystal Egger.
The NWS’s Santa Ana wind season lasts from September until February. Locally higher gusts will be recorded on the sparsely-populated mountaintops.
For the past 30 years or so, I have been telling anyone who will listen that the so-called Santa Ana winds are really supposed to be called the Santana or “Devilish” winds.
Thornton said drivers traveling on Interstate-5 and Highway 14 should take extra precautions on the freeway tonight and Friday. Along the Central Coast, tides will be somewhat lower but bigger surf is expected, building to between eight and 12 feet or higher, it said.
Temperatures were unseasonably high for much of the region, but not at record levels, said Seto.
Gusty winds buffeted the Southland amid relatively low humidity today, creating a danger of wildfire ranging from “elevated” to “extreme”, the National Weather Service said.
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In L.A. County mountains – both the San Gabriels and Santa Monicas – a wind advisory will be in effect until 9 Thursday night and a more serious high wind watch, which reflects an expectation of 58-mph gusts or greater, will be in force until Friday morning. Coastal flood advisories also will be in force in Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and San Diego counties.
