An Ill Wind Up to Mischief in Southland

Santa Ana winds gusting up to 45 m.p.h. swept through the Southland Thursday, creating dangerous fire conditions, felling trees and causing minor power blackouts.

In Orange County, 40 m.p.h. winds were clocked at John Wayne Airport, and police reported that burglar alarms were set off by the wind in several Orange County cities.

A brush fire erupted on the edge of Camp Pendleton near San Clemente, but flames did not threaten any structures, authorities said.

Winds fanned a fire that started in shrubbery beside a Tustin home, spreading it to four other houses in the 14000 block of Livingston Street. The 10 a.m. blaze caused $3,850 damage, firefighters said.

Throughout Orange County temperatures were about 5 degrees above normal, reaching 83 in San Juan Capistrano, 78 in Santa Ana, 78 in Newport and 72 in El Toro.

In terms of the fire danger in rain-hungry Southern California, the humidity dipped from a high of 87% to only 9% in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to Dan Bowman, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

Since last July 1, Bowman said, Los Angeles has had 9.07 inches of rain, more than 4 1/2 inches below normal for this time of year.

“No rain is in sight,” Bowman added. But coastal fog may develop Sunday and Monday, he said.

Noting the number of Santa Ana wind conditions that the Southland has had so far this year, Bowman said the situation is not terribly unusual. But if the dry, windy conditions persist through April, then “that would be unusual,” he said.

The current Santa Ana condition, he said, began on Wednesday, resulting from a storm system moving southeasterly from the Gulf of Alaska to the Arizona-New Mexico border. That storm, he said, produced a low-pressure system at the surface which--when combined with a high-pressure system that moved in from northern Idaho--generated the hot, dry winds.

Bowman said gusts were clocked as high as 45 m.p.h. in some mountain and desert areas, and in the coastal canyons during the day.

“The key to Santa Ana winds is a combination of low- and high-pressure systems,” he said.

The winds are expected to die down over the Easter/Passover weekend as cooler air moves into Southern California.

The WeatherData forecast calls for lighter winds through Saturday with clear skies and temperatures a few degrees above normal. Highs today and Saturday will be in the 70s to low 80s, while the humidity will remain relatively low.

Cooler by Easter

For Easter Sunday, WeatherData forecasts low clouds and fog along the coast with mostly clear skies inland. Temperatures will be a few degrees cooler, in the 70s, dipping to the upper 60s along the coast.

Lower temperatures will continue into Monday as cooler air moves in from Northern California.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokeswoman Dorothy Jenson said high winds were blamed for scattered power outages throughout the foothill area of the San Fernando Valley.