A new round of Santa Ana winds neared hurricane force in local mountains Saturday, pumped up temperatures across coastal Southern California and pushed the danger of a wildfire into the red zone today.

A Red Flag Warning remains in effect until midnight from the Los Angeles County coast and north into the mountains. County firefighters stationed extra five-engine strike teams in Agoura Hills, La Canada-Flintridge and Malibu to get a quick jump on any wildfires, supervising fire dispatcher
Art Marrujo said.

By 10 a.m., a peak gust of 68 miles per hour was reported from a weather-
watcher's gauge above Malibu, the National Weather Service said. A similar
gust was observed at a fire camp in the mountains above Sylmar.

A 50 mph gust blasted Porter Ranch, and freeways in the Newhall Pass and
northern San Fernando Valley were also getting crosswinds topping 40 mph at
midmorning.

Damaging gusts out of the northeast, up to 60 mph, had been predicted in
wind-prone areas of Los Angeles and Orange counties. Sustained winds should
be in the 15-25 mph range, the NWS said.
 
A clockwise airflow around a high-pressure system over the region is
responsible for the offshore winds, which are out of the north and west.
Compressional heating, caused by high-desert air sweeping over the mountains
and falling into the Los Angeles Basin, also dries out the air, making
conditions ripe for a wildfire to spread quickly.