Santa Ana

Critical fire danger in San Diego County continues but weekend rain possible

The county will see a break from Santa Ana winds, more moisture and even a chance of rain this weekend that could possibly linger until Monday.

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Francella Perez’s evening weather forecast for Jan. 23, 2025

What to Know

  • A red flag warning for San Diego County's mountains and inland valleys is in effect until 10 a.m. Friday
  • A shift is coming: rain is in the forecast for the weekend
  • SDG&E power shutoffs continue: More than 20,000 customers are without power. The utility opened several community resource centers
  • Several schools will be closed Friday due to winds and power outages

The critical fire danger will continue through Friday morning as San Diego County grapples with extremely low relative humidity and strong offshore Santa Ana winds.

A red flag warning for the county's mountains and inland valleys is set to expire at 10 a.m. Friday, according to the National Weather Service, bringing an end to the seventh wind event in January.

The NWS said the strongest winds were expected during the day on Thursday with northeast winds of 30-40 mph, gusts of 60-70 mph and isolated gusts of 75-85 mph. A high wind warning was in effect for 12 hours starting at 6 a.m. on Thursday.

"Our winds are going to shift directions," NBC 7 meteorologist Francella Perez said. "Right now, we're getting those east-to-west winds. By [Friday], we're going to get the opposite, onshore flow."

That onshore flow is good news for several reasons. The county will see a break from Santa Ana winds, more moisture and even a chance of rain this weekend that could possibly linger until Monday.

"This would be the first winter storm of the season," Perez said. "Southern California is going to be getting beneficial rainfall from about a quarter of an inch to half of an inch of rainfall, potentially, and this is going to be widespread rain."

Perez said this storm system won't be associated with an atmospheric river, which can sometimes bring relentless rain.

"That'll be helpful for the firefighters," Perez said. "It will mitigate fire danger for the weekend, but it's not going to end the fire season."

It will, however, be a cold system, meaning the county's mountains could see some snow sometime Sunday. The snow level could drop down to around 3,500 feet.

NBC 7's Angelica Campos explains what are Santa Ana winds and its impact to San Diego County.

SDG&E power shutoffs

Due to the windy and dry conditions, more than 20,000 San Diego Gas & Electric customers remained without power on Thursday night.

The utility says it implements public safety power shutoffs to keep power lines from arcing or throwing off sparks when trees come into contact with the high-power lines.

More than 12,000 customers were impacted by Thursday morning, and SDG&E said affected communities would likely remain without power at least throughout the day as wind speeds peaked. The utility said around noon that they were restoring power to some customers, but 20,132 still had their power cut off as of 10 p.m.

Strong winds were expected through Friday morning, which SDG&E said could result in other shutoffs and delayed restorations. The utility warned more than 73,000 customers that they could lose power during this weather event.

The agency opened several community resource centers for customers without power to utilize. The centers are open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and provide residents with WiFi, charging stations, water, snacks and warmth.


School closures

The San Diego County Office of Education announced that schools in the Mountain Empire Unified School District and the Warner Springs School District would be closed on Friday.

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