Strong winds will diminish through the weekend, but one final day of gusty winds is expected Saturday.
BySara Tonks•just now
Updated: October 17, 2026, 7:50 am EDTPublished: October 17, 2026, 7:23 am EDT
Critical fire danger for California as Santa Ana wind threat persists
California’s first Santa Ana wind event of the fall will wrap up this weekend. Gusty winds blasting the Los Angeles Basin increase the threat for rapidly spreading wildfires.
Red flag warnings have been issued for parts of Southern California and the Sierra Nevada due to strong winds, dry air and hot temperatures. These warnings extend through Saturday evening and warn of widespread gusts up to 55 mph.
(MORE:What are Santa Ana winds, and why are they so dangerous?)
Several brush fires burn in Southern California Saturday, including the Bryson Fire, which has burned nearly 150 acres as of Saturday morning. The Norte Fire in Orange County, California, which has already impacted several homes, has burned nearly 500 acres. The Henderson Fire in San Diego County has burned over 2,000 acres and is 20% contained.
Firefighters worked to contain two other fires that had sparked Thursday afternoon and triggered evacuation orders in the city of Azusa, north of L.A., and Camp Pendleton near San Diego, The Associated Press reported.
Preparation for impacts — including damage to trees and power lines, blown away lawn furniture and holiday decorations and potential fire growth — should be rushed to completion.
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Set The Weather Company as a ‘Preferred
Even if you don’t lose power due to the wind, local power companies also warned of preemptive power outages.
Numerous outages are already in effect across parts of Southern California and into the Sierras. Thousands remain without power in California, according to poweroutage.us.
This is done as a precaution when winds are strong in an effort to prevent new wildfires.
(WATCH:Wildfire smoke exposure quadrupled in US over past two decades)
California’s wildfires so far this year
California has been experiencing a relatively mild year in terms of wildfires so far
But wildfire season is still ongoing across the state, and much like with other types of hazardous weather, it only takes one to lose your home or even your life.
(More:Bouquet Fire explodes near Santa Clarita amid SoCal heat wave)
Make sure you have a way to get alerts about fires in your area even if the power goes out, and have a plan in place in case of emergency.
Recap so far
Gusts from 50 to 70 mph were common below passes and canyons in Southern California Friday morning from Ventura and L.A. County to the San Diego County mountains. The strongest gust has been measured at Magic Mountain (81 mph), north of the San Fernando Valley.
Sara Tonksis a content meteorologist with weather.com and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.
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