Even as Santa Ana winds continued to blast parts of the Southland, helping to fuel a new brush fire in the Castaic area, local authorities turned their attention Wednesday to the possibility of rain hitting the area this weekend and potentially triggering mud or debris flows in recent burn areas.
Red flag warnings of high fire danger will be in place until 10 a.m. Friday for a large swath of Los Angeles County, including the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the San Gabriel Mountains, the 5 and 14 Freeway corridors, the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, the Malibu Coast, Calabasas and Agoura Hills.
“Northeast winds will strengthen and expand either (Wednesday night) or Thursday morning, with winds peaking on Thursday,” according to the National Weather Service. “Peak wind gusts of 35 to 50 mph will be common over much of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, with local gusts of 50 to 65 mph in the favored mountains. Meanwhile, extremely low humidities will persist with minimums under 10 percent over much of the area and poor overnight recoveries.”…