FILE: Downtown Los Angeles.

A “life-threatening, destructive” wind event is entering the California forecast, posing an extreme fire risk for Southern California amid an extremely dry winter.

The strongest wind potential is expected to be in the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Simi Valley and Santa Monica Mountains starting Tuesday morning and into Wednesday, Richard Thompson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, told SFGATE. Wind gusts could reach 80-100 mph in the San Fernando Valley and the mountains. In other areas, the gusts are predicted to be between 50 and 80 mph.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

With humidity dropping into the single digits, meteorologists also are predicting extreme fire weather. Thompson said Southern California’s last significant rainfall was in April 2024, making the current weather conditions particularly concerning. A dry period isn’t unusual for the start of winter, but this season’s has been exacerbated by wind and dry vegetation.

“It’s just, unfortunately, it’s been really dry in the fact we get these really strong Santa Ana wind events so far. It’s just a nasty cocktail that’s been actually mixing here for us, unfortunately,” he said.

The weather service issued a fire weather watch from Tuesday to........

© SFGate