The winds could threaten the incremental progress firefighters made over the weekend with multiple fires. The winds that had eased somewhat Sunday, allowing firefighters and rescue crews to begin gaining some control, were forecast to return later Monday, with coastal winds reaching 40-50 mph.
The National Weather Service's Los Angeles office highlighted Red Flag Warning areas in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties that received the rare "particularly dangerous situation'' designation, saying those are for "the extreme of the extreme fire weather scenarios.'' The Red Flag Warnings for a larger stretch of Southern California are in place from Monday through Wednesday morning.
"Conditions are expected to worsen for these locations by Tuesday morning as wind gusts near 70 mph will be possible," NWS meteorologist Walter Otto said in a Monday weather update, citing the wind combined with low relative humidity and lack of recent rainfall. "These locations will be under a high risk for large fires with potential for very rapid spreading of any fires that may develop."
The weather service said "critical to extremely critical fire weather conditions'' are predicted for the full coastal area in Southern California through Wednesday, stretching all the way down to San Diego, prompting officials to pre-position firefighting crews in vulnerable locations.
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