Wind Advisory: Gusty conditions in OC, San Bernardino, Riverside counties

Strong, gusty winds swept across parts of Southern California on Friday, including Santa Clarita in north LA County where the wind-driven Crown Fire sparked around 11:30 a.m.

The National Weather Service issued a Wind Advisory for Orange County Inland, San Bernardino and Riverside County valleys in the Inland Empire and Ventura County beaches through 1 p.m. Saturday for northwest winds between 15 and 30 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph.

Per the advisory, the strongest winds through Saturday are expected on the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains through the Cajon Pass and the San Gorgonio Pass into the Inland Empire.

In her First Alert Forecast early Friday, NBC Los Angeles Meteorologist Kelly Moody said the day would be gusty for some in the SoCal region, particularly along the Santa Susana Pass into the Santa Monica mountains.

“That’s where the wind will be the strongest, but much of Southern California is at least going to be feeling that strong breeze at times,” Moody explained.

Moody also pointed out Santa Clarita as a hotspot for Santa Ana winds.

“You can see, from Santa Clarita down into Oxnard, this is a spot where we tend to see some really strong winds come through when we have Santa Anas,” she said.  “We also tend to see that be the case for areas through the Cajon Pass. So, these are all key spots — where, for today — we’re going to be watching those winds pick up.”

Moody said residents in the wind advisory areas can expect a lighter breeze by Friday evening. By Saturday, the winds will weaken, although they might still be a little breezy in some areas at times.

A light breeze will continue into Sunday morning.

Moody said an onshore flow will start moving in Sunday evening that will gradually create cooler temperatures next week and perhaps some rain, but it was too soon to tell.

Current conditions (1149 AM) near the #CrownFire:

Temp: 60-64
RH: 16-20%
Wind: NE to E 18-24 MPH Gust 35-45 MPH#FireWx

— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) April 3, 2026

Friday’s fires

As of 1:20 p.m., the Crown Fire in Santa Clarita burned 80 acres in a sparsely populated area near North Canyon Valley and Soledad Canyon roads. Some evacuations were ordered. Keep up with the latest updates on the Crown Fire here.

Meanwhile, an evacuation order was in effect in Moreno Valley for the Springs Fire, which sparked around 11 a.m. Friday on Gilman Springs Road amid windy conditions. The Springs Fire rapidly grew to 1,000 acres; get updates here.

Through March, about 500 wildland fires were reported in California that burned a total of 2,000 acres. At this time last year, 600 fires had burned 59,170 acres, according to Cal Fire.

The state’s five-year average is 734 fires and 13,700 acres through March.