Red Flag Warnings, Hot Wind Blasts Southland

The Santa Ana winds began toasting the hills and canyons of Southern California Sunday, in advance of a large Santa Ana windstorm in the National Weather Service forecasts. The latest National Weather Service maps showed the offshore winds would be stronger than had been forecast on Saturday, and they may last into Wednesday.

Red Flag Warnings were up Sunday in all the windiest places, including the inland valleys and Santa Monica Mountains east and west of Malibu, and firefighters remain on alert.

The Orange County Fire Authority has "fully manned two different strike teams, have two extra bulldozers ready, fully staffed their hand crews and engine crew and have two water dropping helicopters fully staffed," according to Capt. Paul Holaday. The extra preparations started Sunday morning into Monday, and will be evaluated again on Tuesday.

The City of Los Angeles Fire Department would be "redeploying their resources to put extra engines in places that are historically prone to wildfires, such as Santa Monica mountain range, Pacific Palisades etc." But spokesman Brian Humphrey said plans were still being drafted, and the redeployments would happen Monday.Los Angeles County would also be adjusting its staffing, a dispatcher said. More details were not available.

"And so it begins,"the NWS analysis noted, as a "monster" high pressure ridge set up over Idaho Sunday, squeezing air down into deserts and through mountains toward the Pacific coast.

On Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, the Santa Anas may engulf Game One of the World Series, possibly blowing over of the outfield pavilion and directly towards home plate.

Forty-one mile per hour wind gusts had been clocked near the Santa Ana River Canyon near Anaheim by 10 a.m. Sunday. Near Palm Springs, winds in the San Gorgonio Pass were gusting to 32 miles per hour at Banning, and peaks gusts were clocked at Boulevard, in the mountains 45 miles east of San Diego.

Southern Californians were told to brace for 100-degree-plus temperatures and winds of up to 65 miles per hour in canyons and mountains, as the weather maps Sunday pointed to critically dangerous fire weather on Monday and Tuesday.

Highs of 103 were predicted for the San Fernando Valley Monday and Tuesday, and winds of between 40-50 miles per hour in passes, and up to 65 mile per hour gusts, were forecast.

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