DWP Power Restored as New Santa Ana Winds Threaten

Power has been fully restored to all Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) customers affected by the recent windstorm, according to spokesperson Maychelle Yee. That word comes just as weather forecasters are predicting a new blast of winds aimed at the San Fernando Valley.

Red Flag warnings were scheduled to go up early Monday, as a traditional-style Santa Ana was to arrive.

The National Weather Service (NWS) said high winds will develop in mountains and canyons after midnight, and will spread to coastal areas as the sun rises Monday. Gusts reaching 70 mph can be expected in the mountainous areas that traditionally see the highest gusts.

"We're looking for more of your typical Santa Ana affair," said NWS meteorologist David Sweet. "This will mainly affect the mountains, the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, the Santa Monica Mountains and the Ventura County plains."

Humidity readings will drop to around 10 percent, making the brushfire potential very high, the NWS said.

Red Flag Warnings were scheduled to go up at 4 a.m. Monday in the mountains around Palmdale, Santa Clarita, and Calabasas, and at 6 a.m. in the flatlands of Los Angeles. Nearly 300 L.A. County firefighters will remain deployed in fire-prone areas in the northern and western mountains, firefighters said.

But the NWS forecaster said the hard-hit areas of Northeast Los Angeles, Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley foothills, which saw hurricane-force winds Wednesday, will be spared the brunt of Monday's winds. "We're probably looking at wind gusts of 35 or maybe 40 miles an hour there," Sweet said.

In Los Angeles, the DWP had up to 138 crews working for four straight nights, and finished fixing 1,600 electrical problems at 10 a.m. Sunday, said spokesman Joseph Ramallo. Some of those problems affected tens of thousands of people, but all the major storm repairs had been completed.

Southern California Edison (SCE) began the day with about 57,573 customer accounts still blacked out. But the company had 273 company and contractor crews replanting poles and restringing lines Sunday, and a spokesman said 95 percent of the customers who lost juice Wednesday should have it by 8 p.m. last night.

And 99.9 percent of the outages should be repaired by 8 p.m. Monday, the company vowed in a news statement. The SCE outages were largely along the San Gabriel Valley foothills from Pasadena east, where "near hurricane force winds" caused flying debris to knock over power poles, the utility's spokesman said.

The city of Arcadia was particularly hard hit, and police there said they expected Edison crews to fully restore power there by Monday.

Wilderness Park, the Arcadia Public Library and the Los Angeles County Arboretum remain closed until further notice. The Westfield Santa Anita Mall was open, and Circus Vargas had resumed shows under its big tent.

Colorado Boulevard in Arcadia was one of several streets still closed by downed poles Sunday, police said.

-- City News Service