California Fires and Storms: A State Emergency Operations Center to Prepare for an Eleven Degree Weather Outage due to the West Coast Winds on Tuesday and Wednesday
Some California communities have been placed under a mandatory Evacuation notice due to the strong winds blowing on the West Coast.
The winds are expected to accelerate to dangerous levels on Tuesday and Wednesday, after a dip in speed on Tuesday afternoon. There could be dangerous winds and weather on Thursday or Friday.
Utility companies in the region warned they could turn off power to some customers, but so far they’ve not done so. More than 64,000 customers of San Diego Gas and Electric could be in the dark as early as Tuesday, the company said. One of the largest pre-emptive power cuts in history was being considered by Southern California Electric.
A rare “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning was issued for portions of Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange counties, including downtown Los Angeles, for Tuesday and Wednesday. This is the third time in the season that the level of warning has been issued. The previous two warnings were during the Mountain and Franklin wildfires. It is rare to get such warnings. The National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office has only issued them twice before this year.
The brush fire is being driven by 60 mph winds in the Santa Monica Mountains and firefighters are working to contain it. These gusty winds — which haven’t even reached the maximum predicted 80-100 mph yet — make firefighting difficult, picking up embers and dropping them up to 3/4 of a mile beyond the fire line.
The NWS said Santa Ana winds slammed the area and caused fires as the South prepared for snow and more cold.
The system forecast to hit Texas may bring several inches of snow to southeastern Oklahoma and western and central Arkansas Thursday into Friday, the NWS said. The NWS cautions that the forecast is still early and that the amount of the storm could change.
“With below-freezing temperatures beginning to impact large portions of the state, Texas is increasing the readiness level of the State Operations Center to ensure resources are swiftly deployed to communities,” Abbott said in a statement Tuesday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to activate state emergency response resources ahead of the storm.
The Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, Calif., during a late-time Super-Wilson Snowstorm on Dec. 15, 2015
This came after the winter storm brought ice, snow and freezing temperatures to the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and South. As of Monday, at least four people died and dozens were injured as the storm moved across several states, including Kansas, Illinois, Virginia and the Washington, D.C., area, stranding cars and knocking out power.
A developing storm is expected to bring more wintry weather across the country, threatening the normally warm areas of New Mexico, Texas and other areas in the South with snow and freezing rain starting Wednesday.
Officials in Los Angeles warned that residents living along the path of the Palisades Fire should prepare to evacuate as the fire moved quickly through hills surrounding the area due to the strong winds. People living near the Los Angeles County beach are ordered to evacuate.
