LOS ANGELES – Power was off for tens of thousands of people by Monday evening as utilities worked to mitigate the impact of Southern California’s notorious Santa Ana winds, whose strong gusts could damage electrical equipment and spark wildfires.

The National Weather Service issued a high fire danger and rare “particularly hazardous situation” (PDS) warning for Los Angeles and Ventura counties Monday through Tuesday from 8 p.m.

The last time PDS raised red flags was the first week of November, when strong, dry winds fueled the Mountain Fire that destroyed at least 240 structures, mostly homes, in Ventura County. Previously, there had been no PDS warning for the region since 2020.

“This event has the potential to be as strong as the Santa Ana event Nov. 5-6 that led to the Mountain Fire,” the Los Angeles weather service office said on social media Sunday.

Nearly 42,000 customers have lost power in San Diego County, and utilities say more outages are likely to occur.

Southern California Edison previously said it was considering targeted power shutoffs for more than 250,000 homes and businesses in seven counties starting Monday evening. Meanwhile, San Diego Gas & Electric said it has notified nearly 117,500 customers that they may temporarily suspend service to reduce the risk of wildfires.

Winds of 50 to 60 miles per hour (80 to 97 km/h) were recorded in and around mountain ranges in Southern California through Monday evening, with some gusts over 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) in the Santa Ana Mountains, according to the National and San Gabriel Weather Service.

Santa Anas are dry, warm, gusty northeast winds that blow toward and offshore from the interior of Southern California. They typically occur in the fall months and continue through the winter and into early spring.

In Northern California, the weather service said the likelihood of a “severe rain event” was increasing later this week in the San Francisco Bay Area.

According to the utility’s website, approximately 9,922 SCE customers were subject to “public safety power shutoffs” as of 10:20 p.m. Monday. That included 5,617 customers in Los Angeles County, 3,085 in Orange County and 1,216 in Riverside County.

Public safety power shutoffs being considered include:

–Los Angeles County, 37,076 customers

–Orange County, 6,118 customers

–Riverside County, 61,265 customers

–San Bernardino County, 60,158 customers

–Ventura County, 66,096 customers

The Register contributed to this story.