Powerful Santa Ana winds are sweeping across Southern California in a windstorm that triggered red flag warnings for Los Angeles County and other areas. Wind speeds increased Tuesday morning with the strongest gusts expected Tuesday evening into Wednesday.

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for Los Angeles and parts of Ventura County through Thursday evening, meaning that conditions for wildfires will be at their highest thanks to low humidity,

Wind Alerts have been issued beyond Southern California into Las Vegas up to South Lake Tahoe to Redding, CA. Winds are expected to be gusting up to 50-65 mph and higher elevations could have gusts reaching close to 80mph at times between now and Thursday.

The Santa Ana Wildfire Threat Index is warning Southern Californians of high risk conditions this week. Winds will increase on Tuesday, likely peaking Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, then weakening some on Thursday. It will be critically dry, and fire danger will be high. Be prepared.

As a major winter storm batters the Midwest and East Coast, the National Weather Service is warning a destructive windstorm could hit Southern California.

The NWS is warning SoCal residents to be prepared as a life-threatening, destructive, widespread windstorm is expected to sweep through much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties Tuesday through Wednesday.