Tired of all of those hot, humid storms rolling up from the tropics and making October in Los Angeles feel like August in Miami? Exhausted from all the news about coastal erosion and flooding? Well, get ready for a couple of days of hot, dry Santa Ana winds blowing in from the desert and putting parts of Southern California at high risk for wildfires. If it feels like you’re on a weather roller coaster lately, you’re not imagining it.
Scientists actually have a name for what we’re going through: climate whiplash. It describes the rapid, extreme transition between opposing weather patterns — and Southern California is emerging as the poster child for the condition. Normally, the whiplash occurs over a few years. Take, for example, the three years of historic, parching drought in California that were followed by a parade of atmospheric river storms that drenched the state during the winter of 2022-23, when the Southern Sierra Nevada received roughly 300% of its average April 1 snowpack.
That triggered a boom in grass and brush growth, which quickly turned into bone-dry kindling when the rains gave way to more record heat. Now, the time frame is being compressed. After the humidity of the last few weeks and rain over the weekend, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles issued a heat and wind advisory for Thursday and Friday. It covers much of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, including recently fire-ravaged Malibu and Pacific Palisades.
The weather service is warning of sustained winds
The weather service is warning of sustained winds of 20-30 mph with gusts up to 55 mph and temperatures in the mid-90s. That prompted the service to also issue a red flag warning for mountain passes and coastal areas in Ventura and L.A. counties, meaning there’s a “high risk for extreme fire behavior with any new fire starts.” None of this is new for SoCal locals, and the wind speeds aren’t predicted to be nearly as high as those that drove the catastrophic fires in Altadena and the Palisades in January 2025.
But many of us awoke Wednesday with a chilling sense of deja vu when we read the story by my colleague Joseph Serna about a brush fire that had ignited in Brentwood. Fortunately, firefighters were able to corral the blaze quickly after it burned about an acre and a half across the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ West L.A. campus. While the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel dumped several inches of rain on much of Southern California over the weekend, bringing needed moisture to the vegetation, coastal areas west of the 405 Freeway got almost none.
After the record heat wave in early October, vegetation along the shore is still dry. That’s where the fire risk will be greatest in the coming days a UC Agriculture & Natural Re California Edison, the utility whose power lines are believed to have sparked the deadly Altadena blaze, suggested it may have to shut off electricity to as many as 220,000 customers in the coming days
Those outages, should they occur, are likely
Those outages, should they occur, are likely to affect people in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Customers in Kern, Tulare and Santa Barbara counties might also face shutoffs. Large swaths of Southern California will see sustained winds of 20 to 40 mph and gusts from 40 to 60 mph between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon. A small fire broke out Wednesday morning in Brentwood but was quickly snuffed out.Overall, climate change is weakening the winds — but won’t save SoCal from devastating fires.Officials have shuttered several parks to avoid sparking a fire.
Here’s what’s closed.A surge in ICE operations that began last week has disrupted agricultural communities, sparked confrontations and left families scrambling to locate detained relatives.School attendance has dropped and undocumented residents are staying home, according to a Fresno city council member.An ICE officer is facing a slew of felony charges after allegedly assaulting a 72-year-old homeowner and the man’s daughter after they found him sleeping on their front lawn.The Dodgers lost 6-2 last night, putting them behind 3-0 in the NLCS.
We analyzed the collapse. Only one team in MLB history has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series.Bill Plaschke writes that “the champs are out of gas.” Mirjam Swanson writes “improbable tasks are Shohei Ohtani’s jam.”The Justice Department demanded California prove the citizenship for lists of voters or withhold ballots.L.A. voters worry about outside influence in midterm elections, a new poll found.
Inventory robots are rolling through some Los Angeles
Inventory robots are rolling through some Los Angeles grocery stores, scanning shelves for missing products and misplaced items.Shoppers are unsettled, while grocery workers and unions worry automation could cut hours, threaten jobs and expand workplace monitoring.California test scores have crept up, but still fail to offset the pandemic setbacks six years later.Pacific Coast Highway partially closed in Orange County after a crack appeared in a hillside.A California woman poisoned by a co-worker speaks out after his conviction is dismissed.Russell Brand’s U.K.
sexual assault and rape trial begins: Here’s a timeline of allegations and charges.Sora Craft Kitchen, one of L.A.’s best restaurants, will close this month.California EV owners, beware: El Niño flooding brings risk of serious battery fires.Karen Bass says L.A.’s political establishment doesn’t like Raman. Well, boo-hoo, writes columnist Gustavo Arellano.Prenups shed their stigma.
For today’s young couples, signing one is an act of intimacy.How do you make a great opening scene for TV? First, trust the viewer.Westside residents without air conditioning, we want to hear from you.🚀The Space Shuttle Endeavour, NASA’s final space shuttle, will soon be available again for public viewing.📺No time for a “WandaVision” rewatch? Here’s what to know before starting “VisionQuest.” Want to make your own Halloween candy?
Coconut bars are good to start
Coconut bars are good to start with. They are nothing more than a combination of shredded or grated sweetened coconut mixed with powdered sugar and condensed milk. What is your favorite Halloween candy? Mary M. says, “My favorite Halloween treat & old-school memory was a homemade popcorn ball made by our sweet old lady neighbor, Miss Lily, who lived across the street. We would always go trick or treating there first to get our delicious goodie made with love and kindness.
That was in the 1950s before the tainted candy and hidden razor blades. A Mayberry memory.” Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. Here’s today’s mini crossword, plus our other free, daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games. Jack Dolan, investigative reporter Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor Andrew Campa, weekend writer Karim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful?
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