The red-flag warning extended Wednesday for the county’s inland valleys still is set to expire at 6 p.m. Friday, with overnight northeast winds of 28 to 38 mph and possible gusts of 50 mph, up to 60 mph after midnight.

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.

Dangerous fire weather conditions and poor air quality are expected to stick around until the weekend. Here's what to know in Orange County.

Amid an already dry winter season, the first Santa Ana wind event of 2025 is elevating fire danger this week and threatening power shut-offs for thousands of San Diego Gas & Electric customers.

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.

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

San Diego County, which is in the midst of one of the driest periods on record, will be lashed by unusually cold and expansive Santa Ana winds early Wednesday that could spark wildfires, snap

Although the strongest wind gusts have passed through the Southern California region, another "traditional Santa Ana wind event" will move in Thursday night.

Another round of Santa Ana winds is forecast to sweep into SoCal on Thursday night into Friday morning, putting most of the region under a critical fire risk, as emergency responders battle to contain quickly spreading wildfires.