Santa Ana Wind Season Arrives in So Cal

It's that time of the year when the hot dry Santa Ana winds come sweeping through the mountain passes and across a pretty parched Southland:

Strong Santa Ana winds and low humidity are heading to parts of Southern California this afternoon, creating prime conditions for a brush fire.

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning to alert local fire agencies.

Early this morning, a cold front passed through the region bringing northerly winds and clearing out the thick marine layer. As this weather system speeds off to the east, a ridge of high pressure is quickly filling into the Great Basin. Winds will build throughout the day and they will shift to the northeast by this evening.

WIND ADVISORIES will be in effect for the mountains from early afternoon through tomorrow. This evening, winds could gust to 50 MPH in the high country. This evening WIND ADVISORIES will go into effect for the valleys of Los Angels and Ventura Counties through tomorrow morning.

This evening a RED FLAG WARNING is also going into effect for the mountains and adjacent valleys through Friday. The combination of extreme dryness and strong winds will enhance the fire danger across much of Southern California.

Through the end of the week, temperatures are going up.

This one won't be as strong as some we've seen, but with everything as dry as it is, it won't take much to get a wind-whipped fire going. Some of the worst fires we've had in Southern California have come in October during Santa Ana wind events.