Santa Ana Winds Return to S. California

Seasonal Santa Ana winds are increasing the risk of fire in drought-stricken Southern California.

Conditions are ripe for what we call extreme fire behavior, Joe Sirad, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, Calif., told Sunday’s Los Angeles Times.

Winds gusting up to 80 mph were forecast to sweep south, with the strongest winds expected in eastern Ventura and western Los Angeles County, the newspaper said.

California’s beaches were expected to stay open but surfers, sailors and kayakers were warned the winds could drive them far from shore, the Times reported.

It’s great when you’re going offshore, but when you try to turn around to come back, you’re stuck, said Capt. Jim Makuta of the L.A. County Fire Department’s lifeguard division.

Highway officials warned motorists the winds could impair visibility, kicking up dust and debris from tinder-dry hills and canyons.