Southern California is going to experience an extremely dangerous windstorm this week, the strongest in over ten years.
As per the Guardian, this storm will make the area more at risk for wildfires especially those areas that have been dry without significant rainfall for months.
Wind gusts in Los Angeles and Ventura counties could reach speeds of up to 80 mph.
In some mountain and foothill areas, gusts could exceed 100 mph, making the conditions even more dangerous.
The National Weather Service (NWS), said in a statement, “Strong winds are coming. This is a Particularly Dangerous Situation – in other words, this is about as bad as it gets in terms of fire weather.”
The weather service warned that the storm could cause trees to fall and knock over large vehicles like trucks, trailers and motorhomes.
Considering this, people are adviced to stay indoors and avoid windows for safety.
The strong winds will create dangerous conditions along the coasts of Orange County and Los Angeles, including Catalina Island.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California, Los Angeles and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said, “We really haven’t seen a season as dry as this one follow a season as wet as the previous one. All of that extra abundant growth of grass and vegetation followed immediately by a wind event of this magnitude while it’s still so incredibly dry.”
In addition to this, dry winds, particularly the Santa Ana winds, have caused temperatures in Southern California to be warmer than usual.
The region hasn’t received much rain so far this season, which has further contributed to the dry conditions.
