Wind advisories from San Fernando Valley to Santa Barbara warn of gusts up to 60 mph
Following a week of powerful Santa Ana winds, forecasters have issued wind advisories warning of more strong gusts through parts of Southern California where they are expected to reach up to around 40 to 60 mph.
The weather advisories are in effect across much of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties through noon Tuesday, mostly affecting the mountains, valleys and some coastal communities. The National Weather Service said north to northeast winds around 20 to 30 mph are forecasted from the Santa Ynez Mountains down to the Ventura County mountains — with isolated gusts up to 60 mph near Montecito Hills — affecting communities such as Gorman, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria and Goleta.
The wind advisory is also in effect in the I-5 corridor, and forecasters said the winds could blow down trees and cause power outages.
"Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles," the advisory read. "Use extra caution."
Further south, forecasters are warning of powerful winds through coastal areas and valleys of Ventura and LA counties, including the Malibu coast, the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark and Santa Paula.
Winds in these areas are expected to blow north to northeast at 15 to 20 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph in the valleys and 50 mph in the mountains. Forecasters also warned of trees and power lines possibly being taken down and driving risks due to the strong winds.
Some of those same parts of Ventura County were battered by Santa Ana winds last week, which fire officials and forecasters say drove the flames of the massive Mountain Fire. The day the wildfire started, winds reached up to 60 mph in Camarillo, a particularly hard-hit area where several homes were burned to the ground within the first few hours.
The wildfire injured several people and destroyed more than 200 structures as it tore through more than 20,000 acres within the first two days, an area roughly equivalent to about 32 square miles. Firefighters have since made progress with calmer weather conditions.
When the blaze first sparked, the area was under a high-level Red Flag warning due to other weather-related wildfire risks. There are no Red Flag warnings currently in place across Southern California.
