The most extreme red flag fire warning, known as "particularly hazardous conditions," was again issued for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties Wednesday morning. The riskiest time period is from before sunrise to noon.
The National Weather Service office in Oxnard said mountain wind gusts are expected to rise to 45 mph to 55 mph, with local gusts as high as 60 mph. Forecasters expect Wednesday to be significantly windier than Tuesday.
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Ventura County is expected to be at particular risk if a fire breaks out. Winds in the mountains of northern Ventura County may be stronger than typically seen during Santa Ana wind events.
Wind gusts in the Santa Susana Mountains were as high as 54 mph Wednesday morning.
"We're not out of the woods yet and people need to remain vigilant for fast-moving fires," said Ryan Kittle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Oxnard office.
Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Eric Scott said of the Palisades Fire District that firefighters warned that the vegetation was extremely dry and "easy to catch fire." "We are concerned that winds will stir up the 23,000-acre smoldering pile of debris and leave embers on unburned brush."
At 3 a.m., "particularly hazardous conditions" were again in effect in parts of the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County, including Northridge, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Camarillo and Fillmore.
"Exceptionally hazardous conditions" means the most extreme red flag fire warning, although officials noted that Wednesday's winds won't be as severe as the historic storm that sparked the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires last week.
"Particularly hazardous conditions" are expected to continue until 3pm on Wednesday.
"Although weaker," Kittel said, "it's still a concerning time. It's still very dry and winds on any given day would be concerning."
Traditional red flag warnings — which warn of severe wildfire behavior if a fire breaks out — are in effect across much of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, as well as in Santa Barbara and Some mountainous areas of San Luis Obispo County remain in effect.
The air in Los Angeles and Ventura counties is expected to be fairly dry, with relative humidity as low as 8%.
A red flag fire weather warning is expected to remain in effect until 6 p.m. Wednesday at some locations in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including the Grapevine section of Interstate 5, the western San Gabriel Mountains and the Santa Susana Mountains. to 3 p.m. Thursday.
Winds were calmer Tuesday than forecasters initially expected, which is good news for firefighters. Containment conditions for devastating wildfires last week were either stable or rising slightly.
Fire weather conditions are expected to improve Wednesday night into Saturday. But there is a moderate risk of another round of red flag warnings starting around Monday.
The region is going through a painful dry spell, with one of the driest winters on record, which is the main reason fire risk is so high. Unfortunately, forecasters say the chance of rainfall remains low through January 25.
Downtown Los Angeles has barely received a drop of water in months — just 0.16 inches since Oct. 1, just 3 percent of the seasonal average. Typically, during this time of the water year, downtown Los Angeles receives an average of 5.45 inches of rainfall. The annual average is 14.25 inches.
"As long as we don't see rain when we go, it doesn't take much. The vegetation is so deprived of moisture that once it does, it doesn't take much," said Alex Tardy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's San Diego office. If the wind blows to it, it will definitely cause a fire.
Adding to the fire risk, January is peak Santa Ana wind season, which creates strong winds when high pressure over Nevada and Utah pushes cold air toward low-pressure areas along the California coast. As the air flows down the slopes from the high deserts of the Northeast and through California's mountains and canyons, it becomes dry, compressed and warmed, and as the wind blows, so does the vegetation.
Santa Ana winds are typically strongest in January, Tardy said, citing research from the U.S. Forest Service and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
"Santa Ana is very common in December and January, and typically that's when we see the strongest, largest and most destructive storms. But we don't have those normal dry conditions," Tardy said.
For many areas of Southern California, "it's the driest start of any water year," Tardy said, "and you can see extreme fire behavior when it comes to ignition."
"Never in my career have I seen a punishing Santa Ana event so overwhelmingly overwhelm the normal winter rain season," said retired climatologist Bill Patzert.
The Palisades Fire, which has burned more than 23,700 acres, was 18% contained as of Wednesday morning, up from 17% the day before. Containment means that the edge or perimeter of a fire has been enclosed to the extent that firefighters believe they can prevent the fire from growing.
A predawn view Wednesday from a KABC-TV news helicopter showed no visible flames from the Palisades Fire. However, firefighters continue to focus on hot spots to reduce the risk of winds picking up smoldering embers and carrying them to new areas.
Many areas of Pacific Palisades, Malibu, unincorporated Sunset Mesa, Calabasas, Brentwood and Encino were under evacuation orders or warnings. Evacuation warnings were issued for parts of Bel Air and a small area north of Santa Monica.
Scott said 1,280 structures were destroyed in the Palisades Fire, with 204 structures damaged. However, officials are still conducting damage assessments, so those numbers could increase. Authorities estimate 5,300 buildings have been destroyed in the fire.
The Eaton Fire, burning in the Altadena area, has scorched just over 14,100 acres and was 35% contained as of Wednesday morning, the same condition as Monday morning.
Places under evacuation orders or warnings in the Eaton Fire District include unincorporated Altadena and Kineloa Mesa, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and La Cañada Flintridge
Damage assessments have confirmed that 2,722 structures were destroyed in the Eaton Fire, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, but inspection teams are still combing through the fire's traces. Officials estimate that 7,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed; structures can include homes, businesses, small outbuildings, sheds and even vehicles.
The Palisade and Eaton fires were also among the deadliest in California history. Officials confirmed the two fires killed 25 people, 16 in Eaton and nine in Palisade, but warned the death toll could continue to rise.
There were also 37 missing persons reported from the two fires, officials said.
"This is the most devastating natural disaster in the Los Angeles area," Scott said. "I've worked here for 20 years and I've never seen or imagined the devastation is so widespread."
Questions have been raised on multiple levels about planning for last week's fires.
With the Los Angeles Fire Department facing a special warning of life-threatening winds, top commanders decided not to urgently deploy the roughly 1,000 available firefighters and dozens of water-carrying engines before the blaze devastated much of Pacific Palisades. interviews and internal LAFD records show.
The cause of both fires is under investigation.
Investigators probing the Eaton Fire are focusing on the area around the Southern California Edison transmission tower in Eaton Canyon.
As for the Palisades Fire, sources familiar with the investigation told The Times that the fire started in the Skull Rock area north of Sunset Boulevard and appeared to be of human origin. Officials are investigating whether a small fire that may have been started by New Year's Eve fireworks reignited on Jan. 7.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered an investigation into the causes behind water supply problems that left fire hydrants dry and hampered firefighting efforts during devastating fires in Southern California.
Many fire hydrants on Palisades' high-elevation streets were dry, and firefighters faced low water pressure as they battled the blaze, the Times reported. The Times also found that the Santa Ynez Reservoir, a large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water system, was out of service at the time of the Palisades fire.
New York Times staff writers Howard Blum, Noah Goldberg, Matt Hamilton, Salvador Hernandez, Ian James, Jenny Jarvey, Paul Pringle , Dakota Smith, Erin Chekmedian and Richard Winton contributed to this report.