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,

Santa Ana winds will bring the "highest possible" fire danger to the majority of Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California's notorious Santa Ana winds were predicted to return Monday night and utilities said they are prepared to cut power to hundreds of thousands of customers in areas where strong gusts could damage electrical equipment and spark wildfires.

Red flag warnings are in place for Southern California due to Santa Ana winds that will bring gusts up to 65 mph and “extremely rare and dangerous” fire weather conditions.

Power to tens of thousands of people had been shut off by Monday night as utilities worked to mitigate the impacts of Southern California's notorious Santa Ana winds, whose strong gusts could damage electrical equipment and spark wildfires.

A strong Santa Ana wind event is setting up across Southern California. A rare Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) alert has been issued for Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Cooler temperatures, calmer winds and a chance of rainfall in Southern California this week are forecast to help firefighters as they battle a wind-driven wildfire

A Red Flag Warning expired at 4 a.m. Wednesday but low humidity levels in some parts of San Diego County were still elevating fire concern.