LOS ANGELES – Firefighters welcomed a break Saturday morning from the dangerous Santa Ana winds, whose fierce and dry gusts have fueled several deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area. But the reprieve will only last for hours as strong winds return later on Saturday.

Fire weather warnings are back in effect for Los Angeles and Ventura counties from Saturday evening through Sunday morning – just the beginning of another long-lasting, multi-round fire weather event that will last through the middle of the week.

WHAT ARE THE SANTA ANA WINDS?

While the worst of the impending winds will appear in a second wave Monday night into Tuesday, this initial return of the Santa Ana still holds a lot of potential for impact in the vulnerable region.

According to the FOX Forecast Center, northeast winds will increase to 15-30 mph Saturday evening with gusts up to 50 mph, with some gusts up to 70 in the San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Susana and western Santa Monica miles per hour are possible.

Along the Palisades Fire, winds will turn northeast again, reaching gusts in the 35-50 mph range. Winds here briefly returned to an onshore sea breeze Friday evening, pushing the wildfire north and east and prompting new evacuations along Interstate 405. But on Saturday the offshore winds return.

Even more worrisome will be the area around the Eaton Fire, where wind gusts of more than 60 miles per hour and again from the northeast could occur Saturday evening, which could push the flames back toward populated areas. Wind speeds around the Kenneth and Hurst fires can also reach speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.

Gusts will continue into Sunday morning and then ease into Sunday afternoon, providing another brief respite.

Next week is likely to see the worst Santa Ana winds since Tuesday’s firestorms

Now meteorologists are keeping an eye on the forecast for the middle of next week.

“The overall pattern is somewhat similar to what we saw earlier this week,” said FOX weather meteorologist Ian Oliver. “High pressure is increasing over portions of the Intermountain West. Through some of these mountain passes you get the northeast wind tunnel and down, which sinks, compresses, warms and dries out as it approaches the coast.”

The drying aspect will further reduce the relative humidity into the teens or single digits. Forecast models predict relative humidity of just 9% in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, wind gusts will reach or exceed damaging levels in wind-prone areas of Santa Ana, particularly in the mountains and passes surrounding Los Angeles.

“There is significant concern that fire weather conditions could intensify given previous conditions, little rain in the region since spring 2024, and another offshore wind event on top of everything we have seen so far,” said NWS Los Angeles forecasters wrote. “Residents are urged to keep up to date with the latest information and remain vigilant to protect their lives and property.”

This gust of wind is expected to subside on Wednesday. But how does Southern California get out of this dangerously dry and windy pattern?

“The big problem and what would fix all this is some rain,” Oliver said.

A few raindrops could actually fall from the skies over Southern California over the next week, as the long-range forecast suggests another upper-level low pressure center could drift offshore.

“There is a 30 percent chance it will pick up enough moisture to bring very light rain to southern portions of (Los Angeles) County,” the NWS in Los Angeles said. But “rainfall, if any, will unfortunately be insignificant.”