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,

Southern California is bracing for another round of strong, potentially dangerous Santa Ana winds just over a month after a similar wind event helped fuel the Mountain Fire, which scorched nearly 20,000 acres in Ventura County and sent residents scrambling for safety as flames closed in.

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.