Strong, dry winds are expected to hit the Santa Clarita Valley on Saturday, prompting a red flag warning by the National Weather Service and public safety power shutoffs by Southern California Edison, according to officials.
The red flag warning comes into effect on Saturday at 2 a.m. and is expected to last until 3 p.m., Bryan Lewis, a meteorologist with the NWS, said on Friday during a brief phone call with The Signal.
Winds are expected to be 15 to 25 mph with gusts in the mountains reaching 30 to 40 mph during the red flag warning time frame and its critical fire weather conditions, he said, due to the overlap of low humidity and winds.
Residents will see stronger winds within the SCV in the foothills such as areas in Canyon Country and Sand Canyon and east of Six Flags Magic Mountain and the Newhall Pass.
As a safety precaution, Lewis advised residents to avoid activity that could create a spark, such as outdoor fires and barbecues, and to review evacuation plans and remain aware of any alerts in case of a brush fire igniting.
In addition, as the holiday season approaches, residents who may have decor out on display should make sure it is properly secured to avoid items blowing away.
With the red flag warning, Southern California Edison has reached out to local residents notifying them about safety power shutoffs potentially taking place on Saturday, David Eisenhauer, a spokesman for SCE, said on Friday.
The exact number of customers impacted in the SCV wasn’t immediately known as of the publication of this story, but across Los Angeles County more than 2,300 customers were under consideration for shutoffs, he said.
“There are three things we look at when considering public safety power shutoffs. It’s wind speed, relative humidity in the area, and the brightness of the vegetation that’s on the ground. When combined at a certain criteria, it will cause us to possibly need to turn off power to save lives and protect communities,” Eisenhauer said.
As of Friday afternoon, the areas of Canyon Country and Sand Canyon had shutoffs scheduled due to wildfire risk beginning Saturday from 12 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the SCE’s official website.
“We absolutely understand that losing power for any amount of time can be a hardship. We have to do this to keep the community safe,” Eisenhauer said, and advised customers to charge their electronics ahead of time, and make sure generators are fully working before power is shut off.
To avoid food from spoiling he suggested customers should avoid opening their refrigerators frequently during the shutoffs.
If customers need power to charge their phones and other electronics, SCE has established the Residence Inn/Springhill Suites Valencia located at 27505 Wayne Mills Place, Valencia, as a community resource center available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
For up-to-date information, residents can visit SCE’s outage page at www.sce.com/outages-safety/outage-center/check-outage-status.
