The fierce Santa Ana winds that stoked a blaze that scorched thousands of acres near Los Angeles are expected to wallop San Diego County early Wednesday, in the start of what forecasters say could be a week or more of off-and-on lashings in a region that’s drier than it’s been in years. The leading edge of the storm spread into the county Tuesday afternoon, producing 30 mph gusts at Camp Pendleton, Ramona and Fallbrook — numbers expected to soar by 10 a.m. Wednesday, when the Santa Anas will peak, the National Weather Service said. On Tuesday night, the weather service issued a particularly dangerous situation (PDS) warning for the county’s northern edge — a rarely used warning that means that extremely severe and potentially damaging weather situation appears imminent. That warning applies to all of Orange County and the border with San Diego County. Winds were projected to reach 40 to 60 mph between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Wednesday, with possible gusts up to 70 and 80 mph. Forecasters are especially concerned about three other parts of the region, too, in addition to Camp Pendleton: Interstate 8 east of Alpine, areas flanking Palomar Mountain and areas along state Route 94, which begins in southeastern San Diego. Winds could gust 45 to 60 mph in some places, and a bit higher in isolated spots. By noon Wednesday, the relative humidity is expected to fall to 12% to 20%, further elevating the risk of wildfires. “We’re not just looking at one Santa Ana wind — we’re actually looking at a series of Santa Ana winds that are going to be coming in over the next seven to 10 days,” said Brian D’Agostino, the vice president of wildfire and climate science at San Diego Gas & Electric. “This is the first extreme (weather) we’ve ever seen in January,” D’Agostino told reporters Tuesday. “And not only that, it’s multiple extreme days back to back. So we’re walking into a bit of an uncharted fire potential for us.” The prospect of strong, lengthy Santa Anas led SDG&E to notify almost 65,000 customers they could have their electricity turned off preemptively to avoid the risk of gusts knocking down power lines and igniting wildfires. A second wave of Santa Anas is predicted to kick up on Thursday night into Friday, followed by weaker gusts on Sunday, and there’s potential “for another stronger event as we head into early next week,” D’Agostino said. Effective Wednesday, San Diego will be experiencing the driest start of the rainy season since 1850. Only 0.14 inches of precipitation has fallen at San Diego International Airport since Oct. 1. First responders, utilities, school districts and more hustled Tuesday to prepare for trouble. SDG&E placed dozens of spotters and power line experts in canyons and on peaks throughout the county. Caltrans warned that winds could become strong enough to knock out traffic lights. CalTrans warning signs along Interstate 8 warn drivers heading east of Alpine of high winds past the East Willow Road off-ramp on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) Although some local school districts were still on winter break, others whose students had returned closed schools in anticipation of the dangerous winds and possible outages. Schools were closed Wednesday in Mountain Empire, Ramona, Spencer Valley, Warner and both Julian school districts. The federal government supplemented its fire team in the Palomar District of the Cleveland National Forest, adding five fire trucks, a water tender and a bulldozer — but the forest remained open to the public. The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Camp Pendleton was monitoring the Santa Anas to gauge the possible effect on its fighter jets, the Marines said. All of these agencies were using UC San Diego’s AlertCalifornia, a network of real-time video cameras positioned in 34 locations across San Diego County. In San Diego County, a grass fire burned about 3 1/2 acres in the Wynola area near Julian on Tuesday but was quickly put out. But the power of Santa Ana winds was especially evident near Los Angeles on Tuesday, where a wildfire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood scorched thousands of acres, forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate and led drivers to abandon their cars and flee on foot. Cal Fire officials said 45 engines from Northern California had been sent down to the southern region ahead of this week’s high-speed winds. Of those, 10 engines and two additional fire crews were brought to San Diego County, Cal Fire Capt. Mike Cornette said. Cal Fire also held firefighters’ time-off requests during the weather event, and all equipment, dozers and aircraft will be fully staffed around the county. “We’ve got a heightened level of awareness going into this wind pattern and the critical fire danger,” Cornette said. “Firefighters are preparing mentally, physically and getting our equipment squared away so that we’re ready.” Extreme weather can be especially risky for those living outside. A spokesperson for the city of San Diego said officials were monitoring the storm and were prepared, if needed, to evacuate the city’s two designated camping areas by Balboa Park where hundreds of homeless people stay. Golden Hall, the recently shuttered Civic Center facility downtown, remains available as an emergency shelter. Many homeless San Diegans have moved in recent years to isolated but potentially vulnerable areas like riverbeds as cities around the region cracked down on encampments. More than 420 were estimated to be living by local waterways as of last fall, the highest total yet, according to the San Diego River Park Foundation. Staff writers Caleb Lunetta, Blake Nelson and Jemma Stephenson contributed to this report.