Santa Ana winds and wildfires in Los Angeles, Calif., triggered by a new dip in the jet stream near the Baja Peninsula, southern California
The Santa Ana winds swept through Southern California on Tuesday, spreading flames from a growing wildfire. By nightfall, residents received text alerts warning of possible 100 mph gusts, which led to a full-scale crisis. As the winds howled, more embers took flight, sparking new fires in dry, brittle brushlands that hadn’t seen significant rain in over eight months.
Due to a dip in the jet stream near the Baja Peninsula in northwestern Mexico, the winds are stronger than usual. Winds that are usually relegated to higher elevations are reaching lower terrain areas. He says that they get wind events of this magnitude every so often.
A life threatening and destructive windstorm occurred after the Santa Ana wind event in which there was a stronger Santa Ana event over the past 24 to 36 hours.
The risk of fire remained critical because of high winds, dry vegetation, and low humidity, according to the NWS.
Nearly 30,000 acres remained burning early Thursday across Los Angeles County as firefighters struggled to control a patchwork of deadly blazes that has forced mass evacuations and leveled entire communities.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said more than 7,500 personnel are responding to the fires across local, state and federal agencies. They are using a lot of equipment to fight the fires.
The Hollywood Hills Fire Department notified that ablaze afterward had been declared declared out of control and an evacuation warning for the Los Angeles Fire Department beginning at 2 p.m. ET
“We just finished cleaning up from the Rose Parade of all things, and now this,” she said. “We had the big thing that showed off how wonderful life is here followed immediately by something showing off how awful life can be.”
Cheryl Heuton and her husband left their home in Pasadena with just toothbrushes, laptops and old stuffed animals that belonged to their children when they were younger.
An evacuation order signals the fire poses an “immediate threat to life” and mandates evacuations, while an evacuation warning carries a “potential threat to life and/or property” and suggests that those with pets and livestock, and those who would need more time to evacuate, do so, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, better known as Cal Fire.
The Hollywood Hills were the subject of a fire that broke out Wednesday night and caused mandatory evacuates in some parts of the area. The Los Angeles Fire Department said that most of the area had been cleared.
A wind advisory will remain in effect until at least 2 p.m. PT on Friday. The NWS advises residents to stay at least 100 feet away from downed power lines and call 911.
“With the average strength of the winds being 30 to 60 mph when they occur, there is at least a couple times a year where it will happen,” Cohen told Morning Edition.
The winds were recorded as high as 89 mph in Saddle Peak and as high as 90 mph in Henninger Flats.
The district said that wind, fire and smoke have created dangerous and unsafe conditions for the school communities.
The Hollywood fires: Secretary of State Joe Biden and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announce cancellation of Oscar nominees for the Oscars
US president Joe Biden is getting real time information on the situation and has offered federal assistance to put out the fires. “FEMA—the Federal Emergency Management Agency—has approved a fire-management grant to support the affected areas and help reimburse the State of California for the immediate costs of fighting the fires,” the president said in a statement on Wednesday. The president declared the fires a major disaster.
We are with you in Southern California. The president canceled his planned trip to Italy on wednesday to focus on the fire response.
“Gusty winds and very dry conditions will continue to fuel fire starts and existing fires,” it said, referring to the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires already burning in the area.
Several movie premieres—such as those of the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, the Jennifer Lopez vehicle Unstoppable, and Wolf Man, starring Julia Garner and produced by Ryan Gosling—have been canceled due to dangerous conditions. The Hollywood area of California was ordered to be evacuated on Thursday after a fire broke out a few hundred yards from Hollywood Boulevard. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to delay announcing the Oscar nominations by two days because of the out-of-control situation.