Los Angeles County remains under a Red Flag Warning
Updated 1/9/25 at 8:50pm
Much of Los Angeles County remains under a red flag warning.
Forecasters warning of critical fire weather through Friday night, 1/10/25
North of Wilshire Blvd: monitor the “WATCH DUTY” app very closely
East of the 405: should also monitor Watch Duty very closely.
Watch Duty: Wildfire Maps has NOT marked the following areas with a “Red Flag Warning” — Venice, LAX area, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Rolling Hills Estates, Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, and Laguna Beach.
What is a “Red Flag Warning?”
National Weather Services Red Flag Warnings indicate warm temperatures, very low humidities, and stronger winds, that can combine to produce an increased risk of fire danger. [1]
L.A. County officials say “crews are still struggling with the Palisades fire with firefighters facing 60 mph winds overnight. Officials say they hope calming winds through the day will help crews boost containment.” [2]
Resources:
California
CA natives describe January’s scenes as the worst they’ve ever seen. The historic 2022-2023 winter may have brought a growth in fuel load. Now, during very dry times, the “Santa Ana Winds can fan the flames of ongoing blazes and cause them to evolve rapidly into massive wildfires.” [3]
In late 2022/early 2023, California saw one of the deepest snowpacks in state history, which delayed the onset of wildfire season. [4] One of the concerns during that time was the total amount of combustible material, also known as fuel load. [5]
The precipitation may have led to “intense growth” during the spring and first part of the 2023 summer, resulting in more fuel for fires later. [6]
Other Danger Zones
The interior Northwest and the northern Rockies face a high risk of wildfires; these areas need strategic preparation. Finally, Alaska sees volatile wildfire activity, with 3.08 million acres burned in 2022.” [7]
References
[1] WATCH DUTY. www.watchduty.org
[2] Castleman, et al. Los Angeles Times. (2025, January 9). Thousands of homes destroyed or damaged in Palisades Firestorm, Lafd Estimates. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-09/even-after-a-two-day-nightmare-l-a-girds-for-more-days-of-fire-weather
[3-4,6-7] Lada, B. (2023, April 12). AccuWeather’s 2023 US wildfire forecast. Retrieved from https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-forecasts/accuweathers-2023-us-wildfire-forecast/1510132
[5] Term of the week: Fuel load. interfire.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.interfire.org/termoftheweek.aspterm=1156#:~:text=Fuel%20load%20is%20quantified%20in,materials%20into%20the%20fire%20area).