Gusts of up to 100 miles per hour are possible during dangerous fire weather in California

As a wildfire burns out of control in Ventura County, Southern California, another day of strong winds and dry conditions lies ahead.

That's why firefighters across the region are on high alert.

As of Thursday morning, the fire had burned 14,500 acres without any containment. Numerous houses were lost.

Conditions

The National Weather Service issued a “particularly hazardous situation” alert through Thursday morning, warning of “widespread, extreme fire weather conditions.” This enhanced alert has not been issued in the Los Angeles area since 2020.
Meteorologists are predicting slightly better conditions around the mountain fire Thursday, with wind speeds decreasing in the afternoon, weather service officials said.
In Ventura County, the wind gusts were so strong that some firefighting aircraft were temporarily out of action on Wednesday.
High wind warnings or the usual red flag warnings are expected to expire late Thursday across much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, as well as the Inland Empire, parts of Orange County and the mountains in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
An airborne dust warning and air quality warnings due to smoke and ash are also in effect on Thursday.

Red flag warnings remain in effect across the region until 6pm on Thursday. The warnings were extended through Friday morning for the Ventura County mountains, the Interstate 5 corridor and the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains.
The weather service said Thursday's winds would not be quite as strong as Wednesday's, but would still be dangerous.
Winds pushing the fire southwest could sustain speeds of 30 to 55 mph Thursday with gusts of up to 100 mph in wind-prone mountainous areas, Ventura County emergency officials warned.
The wind is decreasing but is still a problem on Friday.

The strong winds sparked several fires on Wednesday, the largest being the mountain fire in Ventura County.
Firefighters reported that during Wednesday's battle they saw embers starting new spot fires 2½ miles from the main fire line.
Southern California Edison said nearly 70,000 utility customers across the Southland had lost power as of Thursday morning “due to increased wildfire risk.” About a third of the shutdowns were initiated in Ventura County, but areas in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and Orange counties also experienced power outages. Another 257,000 were being considered for safety shutdowns in those areas on Thursday, as were customers in Santa Barbara and Tulare counties, SCE reported.