Red Flag Warning issued for San Diego County amid more Santa Ana winds; thousands could have power shut off
Jan 12, 2025
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for most of eastern San Diego County amid another round of Santa Ana winds.
NWS on Sunday said Santa Ana winds will bring gusty winds and elevated to critical fire weather conditions to inland areas from Monday through Wednesday.
LA wildfires impacting air quality in San Diego County, smoke advisory as more Santa Ana winds expected
Red Flag Warning
While San Diego County inland mountains and valleys and Riverside County mountains were initially forecast to be under a Fire Weather Watch from Monday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service on Sunday upgraded that to a Red Flag Warning for those areas.
The NWS map below shows the areas under a Red Flag Warning from 4 p.m. Monday through 6 p.m. Wednesday due to strong gusty eastern winds and low relative humidity.
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning (shown in pink on the map) for parts of San Diego County from Monday through Wednesday (Photo: National Weather Service San Diego)
NWS says a Red Flag Warning means if a fire does start, it could spread rapidly due to the combination of low relative humidity, strong winds and warm temperatures.
Palisades Fire threatens Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley
San Diego County is currently experiencing the driest start to the rainy season in the past 174 years.
New Round Of Power Outages
SDG&E on Sunday notified around 55,000 customers they could lose power starting Monday night as the utility company works to reduce the wildfire risk in those areas.
SDG&E notified 54,937 customers in areas across the county to be prepared for potential power shutoffs as the weather conditions continue.
View a map online here of areas at risk for Public Safety Power Shutoffs during the latest Red Flag Warning.
Air Quality Alerts
The new Red Flag Warning comes as as firefighters continue to battle wildfires burning throughout Los Angeles. The wind has been changing course over the past few days and has brought some of the smoke to the San Diego region, causing a dip in air quality and prompting North County fire officials to issue a smoke advisory on Saturday.
North of San Diego County, NWS issued an air quality alert on Sunday due to wildfire smoke in parts of Los Angeles County, and for windblow dust in parts of the South Coast Air Basin, Coachella Valley, and Eastern Riverside County.
How close are the Los Angeles fires to San Diego?
You can check the real-time air quality of your city at AirNow.gov.
A look back: The worst fires in San Diego history — how do they compare to LA?
San Diego County and Alert San Diego advise to be prepared to evacuate if you are in those areas under a Red Flag Warning.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria posted on X tips for creating a Wildland Fire Action Plan to help residents prepare for a major wildfire.