The fierce winds in the Los Angeles area subsided Friday, but critical fire weather conditions remain and red flag warnings are still in place.

Dozens of communities are now under mandatory evacuation orders in Southern California with evacuation warnings affecting dozens more as crews continued battling a pair of deadly wildfires in the region Friday.

Red flag criteria is generally when relative humidity is at 15% or less, combined with sustained winds and/or gusts of 25 mph or greater. Both of these conditions must occur simultaneously for at least 3 hours in a 12 hour period, according to the NWS.

A short reprieve in the strong destructive winds has granted firefighters an opportunity to curb the spread of the deadly Eaton Fire near Pasadena.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag waning for a wide swath of Southern California as Santa Ana winds are expected to bring dangerous fire weather to the region later this week.

The current wind event originated in the Nevada and Utah regions of the Great Basin, where high pressure produced winds that are flowing into Southern California. That’s leading to the creation of mountain waves,

Dire warnings have been issued for the Los Angeles area, with a dangerous threat for the strongest wind event in more than a decade. Outages and extreme fire behaviours are major risks

Strong winds and fire weather warnings are in the forecast for parts of Los Angeles, including Malibu, the Santa Monica Mountains and more locations.

The NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA issued an updated high wind warning at 4:42 p.m. on Monday valid from Tuesday 10 a.m. until Wednesday 6 p.m. The warning is for Central Ventura County Valleys, Southern Ventura County Mountains and Northern Ventura County Mountains.

Amid an already dry winter season, the first Santa Ana wind event of 2025 is elevating fire danger this week and threatening power shut-offs for thousands of San Diego Gas & Electric customers.