Strong winds — with gusts as high as 79 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains — began blowing their way through Southern California on Tuesday morning, Jan. 7, leading to the possibility of downed trees and wires, power outages and dangerous fire weather.
Southern California Edison was considering power shutoffs throughout Southern California, with the potential of affecting more than 320,000 customers in Orange and Los Angeles counties and the Inland Empire, according to the utility’s website. Such purposeful outages are meant to keep electrical equipment from malfunctioning in high winds and causing wildfires.
As of Tuesday morning, no customer had power shut off for that kind of precaution.
The offshore winds were anticipated to be dry and strong, with the possibility of gusts up to 100 mph in some parts of Los Angeles County, the National Weather Service said, while labeling the event a “life-threatening and destructive windstorm.”
A red-flag warning — trumpeting extreme fire danger — was in effect as were high-wind and fire watches.
By 9 a.m. Tuesday, some areas in L.A. County had seen wind gusts above 50 mph, including in the San Gabriel Mountains, where Mt. Lukens Truck Trail has had a peak gust of 79 mph and Henniger Flats above Sierra Madre experienced 71-mph winds.
In the western San Gabriel Mountains, Magic Mountain Truck Trail (70 mph), Dexter Park Road above San Fernando (63 mph) and Eaton Canyon near Pasadena (59 mph) had also seen some of the highest early wind gusts, according to NWS data.
The National Weather Service bureau covering L.A. and Ventura counties warned of the potential for downed trees, dangerous sea conditions along the coast, knocked over big rigs and some airport delays and turbulence at Los Angeles International, Burbank and Long Beach airports.
Forecasters advised residents to secure loose objects, to park cars away from trees and to charge necessary electronic and light devices.
Both Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, have moved firefighting resources from Northern California to Southern California in preparation for critical fire weather. Teams in San Bernardino, San Diego and Riverside counties planned to increase their staffing, officials said.
In Pasadena, officials canceled all events and activities scheduled for Tuesday at city-owned community and recreation centers and were considering potential closures for Wednesday as well.
The Los Angeles Unified School District moved Topanga Elementary School students to Woodland Hills Academy in the San Fernando Valley out of an abundance of caution, an LAUSD spokesperson said. Also, Caltrans was closing Topanga Canyon Boulevard between Mulholland Drive and Pacific Coast Highway until 6 p.m. Friday, limiting the canyon to residents and local business traffic.
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District announced Tuesday morning that all Malibu schools would be closed Tuesday due to dangerous weather conditions. Santa Monica schools remained open.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Related Articles
- Crime and Public Safety | Cal Fire moves resources to Southern California as agencies brace for extreme winds
- Crime and Public Safety | Woman killed in 3-car crash in Riverside; DUI suspect arrested
- Crime and Public Safety | OCFA firefighter suffers cardiac arrest, dies, fighting house fire in Laguna Niguel
- Crime and Public Safety | 2 arrested in Claremont commercial burglary spree
- Crime and Public Safety | Man shot and killed in Temecula residence, suspect arrested
©2025 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit pe.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
