Santa Ana winds are expected to continue Friday, gusting across Los Angeles and Ventura Counties at 40 to 65 mph. Wind speeds of 33 mph gusting to 54 were recorded at the Warm Springs weather station northeast of Castaic overnight., according to the National Weather Service.
In Los Angeles County, several blazes broke out Thursday afternoon in the Santa Clarita area and the largest remained uncontained. Called the Tick Fire, the blaze jumped across the 14 freeway at about 2:30 Friday morning, requiring it to be closed in both directions, northbound from Golden Valley and southbound from Escondido Canyon.
#RedFlagWarning remains in effect for #VenturaCounty & #LosAngeles County at least through this evening! Heat Advisories remain in effect for all coastal areas as highs are expected to be in the 90s today! #SoCal #CAwx #LAweather pic.twitter.com/Pfsamh6B3h
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) October 25, 2019
By 9:00 p.m. Thursday, the Tick fire had grown to 3,739 acres, but after spreading to the south and across the freeway during the night may have added another 1,000 acres. Over 50,000 people have been evacuated. At least six homes have already been destroyed with multuple structures still under threat.
NBC News is reporting the Los Angeles Unified School District said it would close all of its schools in the San Fernando Valley on Friday because of “air-quality and safety concerns from the fires.”
Utility may cut power to additional customers
Southern California Edison cut power to more than 31,000 customers on Thursday, However, the utility is considering additional power cuts to more than 386,000 customers, reports the Associated Press.
#BREAKING: Residents forced to evacuate in #CanyonCountry, #California, as the #TickFire quickly grew.
There are currently 4 #CaliforniaFires #OldFire #TickFire #ValVerdeFire #BasinFire pic.twitter.com/VUeJ1GuonF— News flash (@BRNewsFlash) October 24, 2019
The shutdowns were designed to prevent fierce winds from hurling branches into power lines or toppling them, sparking wildfires. In Northern California, the Kincade fire in a rural part of northern Sonoma County has grown to at least 16,000 acres, officials said.
While the Santa Ana winds are expected to abate in Southern California, the winds in the northern part of the state were forecast to increase again over the weekend. Pacific Gas & Electric was forced to impose sweeping blackouts to 180,000 customers in 18 counties on Wednesday evening because of expected high winds.
By Thursday evening, most customers had the power back on. Today, PG&E warned that an even larger power outage may occur as early as Saturday and could affect portions of 33 counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, wine country and Sierra foothills.
A new wind-fueled #wildfire in California exploded to 7,000 acres overnight in Sonoma County: pic.twitter.com/NV1TMs80kQ
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) October 24, 2019
Forecasts for Saturday into Monday showed possible wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph in most elevated areas of Northern California, and as high as 75 mph on some peaks.
“We do think that it will be the strongest offshore wind event of the season by a large margin, and if models are correct, possibly the strongest offshore winds we’ve seen in years,” PG&E chief meteorologist Scott Strenfel said.
