Tens of thousands could lose power as high winds sweep across SoCal

High winds may trigger power safety shutoffs

Public Safety Power Shutoff Warnings have been issued for five Southern California counties on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES - Another round of Santa Ana winds is pushing into Southern California, raising wildfire concerns throughout the region. Because of the winds, Southern California Edison has issued a warning to tens of thousands of SoCal customers that the power may be shut off over the coming days to mitigate the dangers.

SoCal Edison announced Public Safety Power Shutoff Warnings for five counties starting Wednesday, meaning there's "significant possibility of a PSPS event," according to the organization. Those warnings then drop to less-serious "alerts" on Thursday.

All told, approximately 73,500 SoCal Edison customers across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties could see shutoffs over the next two days.

The Santa Ana winds are expected to start blowing through Southern California Tuesday night and continue through Thursday. The winds, coupled with dropping humidity on Thursday have raised fire concerns.

Weather Forecast for Wednesday, Nov. 8

The latest forecast and air quality conditions for the greater Los Angeles area, including beaches, valleys and desert regions.

Fire Weather Watch (@NWSLosAngeles via X)

The National Weather Service issued a fire weather watch that will take effect at 3 a.m. Thursday and remain in effect until 6 p.m. that evening in the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the San Gabriel Mountains, the 5 and 14 freeway corridors, the Malibu Coast, Calabasas and the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

SoCal Edison says that the combination of high winds and low humidity "creates the risk that flying debris damage to wires and equipment could ignite a fire with the potential to spread rapidly and threaten communities," and that the ultimate decision to cut power is "based on actual conditions seen by our live field observers, weather models, and by other considerations including real-time weather data and early fire detection technology."

Here's the breakdown of affected customers by county: