Red flag criteria is generally when relative humidity is at 15% or less, combined with sustained winds and/or gusts of 25 mph or greater. Both of these conditions must occur simultaneously for at least 3 hours in a 12 hour period, according to the NWS.

That’s leading to the creation of mountain waves, which arise when strong winds blow perpendicular to a mountain range. The waves shoot down the coastal side of the mountains, gaining speed along the way, and are more casually referred to as simple Santa Ana winds.

The National Weather Service on Wednesday extended the wildfire warning through the end of the week for much of East County.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag waning for a wide swath of Southern California as Santa Ana winds are expected to bring dangerous fire weather to the region later this week.

The alert status for heightened combustion hazards in the county's inland valleys and mountains went into effect at 4 a.m. Wednesday and will last until 6 p.m. Friday.

The National Weather Service Los Angeles has issued a Red Flag Warning for the Santa Barbara County Mountains and Eastern Santa Ynez Valley Mountain Range. Red Flag Warning Duration: 4:00 a.m. Tuesday,

Weather officials have issued a red flag warning for parts of Southern California as extreme fire conditions increase.

Dire warnings have been issued for the Los Angeles area, with a dangerous threat for the strongest wind event in more than a decade. Outages and extreme fire behaviours are major risks