The PDS designation is set to expire at 10 am PDT. But as Santa Ana winds continue to bring "critical to extremely critical" fire weather conditions to the area, a red flag warning will persist in much of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties through Wednesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service Los Angeles.

Parts of Southern California are still facing "elevated to brief "critical conditions" into Thursday night as a fast-moving wildfire that forced thousands in Malibu to evacuate continues to grow.Threat level: Red Flag warnings ended as powerful Santa Ana winds eased on Wednesday afternoon,

Mass evacuations have been ordered and Pepperdine University is under shelter-in-place orders as a wildfire exploded in Malibu overnight. In the late-night hours of December 9, firefighters were called to a small brush fire, but with Santa Ana winds whipping overnight, the blaze quickly grew into a raging inferno that's consumed over 2,200 acres.