The stiff Santa Ana winds that led San Diego Gas & Electric to shut off power to 5,638 customers Tuesday will peak Wednesday, coinciding with dangerously low relative humidity in critically dry San Diego County, the National Weather Service says.
Forecasters also said Tuesday afternoon that another major Santa Ana wind event could hit Southern California late Sunday night and last well into Tuesday — elevating the wildfire risk from Los Angeles County, which is reeling from historic fires, to San Diego County, which has gotten only small blazes so far.
And SDG&E warned of the possibility of more safety outages in the backcountry, along with some areas near the coast, as the utility tries to reduce the risk of wildfires in a region experiencing historically low rainfall.
Winds are expected to hit 40 mph to 50 mph east of Interstate 15 and 20 mph to 30 mph at and near the coast. The relative humidity will range from 7% inland to 15% at area beaches.
Forecasters said the winds could show special force in and around Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, which sits near the mouth of a corridor that funnels winds from the desert toward the sea. The same is true of Camp Pendleton in North County.
Once again, the air will be cold. The winds have drawn energy from Canada. Before dawn on Tuesday, the temperature in San Diego dropped to 39 degrees.
The latest windstorm comes during a period of dryness that hasn’t been experienced by anyone alive today. San Diego International Airport has recorded only 0.14 inches of precipitation since October — the driest start to the rainy season since 1850, when record-keeping began locally.
“The vegetation is starving for moisture,” said Alex Tardy, a weather service forecaster.
There’s no significant rain in the forecast through Jan. 28.
High-pressure systems have been preventing storms from the Gulf of Alaska from sinking deep into Southern California.
“I don’t see any pattern shift (this month) that would produce winter weather,” said Brian D’Agostino, vice president of wildfire and climate science at SDG&E.
Tuesday’s winds hit 74 mph at Sill Hill, a spot in the Cuyamaca Mountains, and reached 51 mph in Alpine, 40 mph at Ramona Airport and 39 mph on Sunrise Highway in the Laguna Mountains.
There also have been gusts of 28 mph at Camp Pendleton, 20 mph in Carlsbad and 15 mph in Leucadia. Relative humidity across much of the county is in the 9% to 13% range.
Tuesday’s outages came as fire crews knocked down a small brush fire in Ramona that ignited early Tuesday and briefly threatened a home.
The fire was reported shortly after 6:30 a.m. near Pamo Road and Haverford Road. Cal Fire Capt. Robert Johnson said no structures were damaged, and there were no reports of injuries.
Fire officials initially reported the blaze had charred around 10 acres, but Johnson said it likely was around 5 acres. Two fire investigators were trying to determine what sparked the blaze, Johnson said.
On Monday, a wildfire burned 12 acres at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar before it was put out.
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