As fires continue burning in Southern California, Santa Ana winds sweep over Orange County

It’s not raining and it’s not pouring, but the winds aren’t snoring — as a four-day heatwave comes to an end and a record-breaking fire season continues in California, the Santa Ana winds returned Tuesday in Southern California.

In Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley, the skies were gray and cloudy as fires burned in the Angeles Forest and nearby Riverside. The National Weather Service said Tuesday that the smoke canopy will likely remain in Orange County for the next couple of days as the Santa Ana winds are expected to spread southward across the area.

State fire officials said the Apple fire in Riverside County is at 95% containment. The Bobcat and Lake fires in the Angeles National Forest are 0% and 96% contained, respectively.

Models show smoke from the fires in Northern and Central California spreading across the area, with values for vertically integrated smoke not decreasing much until Thursday. Low inland humidity was expected to fall to about 5% to 10% in the mountains and deserts, portions of the Inland Empire and inland Orange County. The National Weather Service said conditions will be a little drier with the lowest daytime humidity at 5% for portions of the inland valleys and closer to 10% in the mountains early to midafternoon except near the coast on Wednesday.

The strongest winds were expected to be along or near the coastal slopes of the San Bernardino County and Santa Ana mountains.

Beachgoers walk the water’s edge at Cress Street in Laguna Beach on Sunday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“The combination of strong gusty winds and low humidity will bring periods of critical fire weather conditions for this afternoon into Wednesday, where rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior will be possible,” forecasters said.

Nearly 14,000 firefighters are fighting 25 major wildfires across the state, which have now burned nearly 2.2 million acres across all fire jurisdictions, according to state fire officials Tuesday.

While firefighters are gaining ground on lightning-caused fires in Northern California, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in its daily update that firefighters are continuing to battle flames up and down the state.

Most of California remains under a red flag warning, including inland Orange County through Wednesday night.

“The conditions will bring strong, gusty winds and low humidity, increasing activity on current fires and can cause new fire starts to grow rapidly,” said Cal Fire officials.

About 9,471 Southern California Edison customers are under consideration for power shutoffs as winds pick up Tuesday evening.

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