What to KnowA purple flag warning stays in impact via Friday morning for elements of Los Angeles County.Crimson flag warnings have been issued in Southern California for 15 of the primary 23 days of January. Included in a number of the purple flag warnings was a Notably Harmful Scenario alert, indicating hearth hazard past that of a typical purple flag warning. January contains consecutive purple flag warning days from Jan. 6 via Jan. 16.The Palisades Hearth and Eaton Hearth, two of the deadliest and most damaging fires on file in California, began and quickly unfold in that 11-day window. The Palisades Hearth on the LA County coast was 72-percent contained at 23,400 acres. The Eaton Hearth within the Altadena space was 95-percent contained at 14,000 acres.
Firefighters are gaining floor on three main fires in Los Angeles County, the place a purple flag warning that went into impact earlier this week for elements of the area was prolonged into Friday.
To date in January, the excessive hearth hazard forecast is a recurring theme. There have been 15 days of purple flag warnings in Los Angeles County via 23 days this month.
Crimson flag warnings have been issued in Southern California for 15 of the 23 days in January as of Jan. 23, 2025.
That features consecutives days of purple flag warnings from Jan. 6 to Jan. 16 that supplied little reduction for firefighters who’ve battled the lethal Palisades and Eaton fires, the fast-moving Hughes Hearth in Castaic and plenty of different smaller fires that crews prevented from reaching constructions and neighborhoods. The Palisades Hearth began on the morning of Jan. 7 in Pacific Palisades adopted hours later by the Eaton Hearth within the Altadena space in a Santa Ana windstorm that firefighters described as among the many worst they’ve seen.
“Today is another one,” stated NBC4 meteorologist Belen De Leon. “We have fire danger very present with the winds increasing as we go through the middle of the day.”
Included in a number of purple flag warning days was a Notably Harmful Scenario alert, a Nationwide Climate Service alert that signifies elevated purple flag circumstances. The realm was underneath a PDS alert Jan. 7 when winds round 80 mph whipped flames and threw embers from the Palisades and Eaton fires, that are among the many deadliest and most damaging fires on file in California.
Twenty-eight deaths have been reported within the two fires with 1000’s of constructions, together with houses and companies, destroyed.
This week’s purple flag warning, which went into impact Monday, is anticipated to run out at 10 a.m. Friday. Considerably cooler temperatures and a slight probability of rain are within the weekend forecast.
A PDS is a Nationwide Climate Service shorthand that stands for Notably Harmful Scenario. Find out how and why it’s used.
Along with the highly effective Santa Ana winds, one more reason for the warnings is a scarcity of rainfall throughout what’s often the wettest time of 12 months in Southern California.
The area is underneath extreme drought circumstances after a dry begin to the moist season in Southern California. After two seasons of above-average rainfall, a months-long dry spell left hillsides lined in dry brush, offering gasoline for wildfires.
Beneath a purple flag warning, any fires that do begin usually tend to unfold at a speedy price behind sturdy winds. Flying embers additionally velocity a brush hearth’s unfold. Highly effective gusts can forged scorching embers for miles, beginning spot fires forward of the primary hearth line in a nightmare situation for firefighters.
