00:00So to help us break this down, we're now joined by AccuWeather California expert Ken Clark. Ken,
00:05you've been spending a lot of time with us for good reason here. We appreciate that you've been
00:08making yourself available so frequently here through this wildfire event here,
00:13one that's going into the history books. Ken, what's one thing that's going to jump out to
00:16you the most moving forward as you look back at this event in Los Angeles County?
00:22The fierceness of this storm, windstorm. It's one of the highest windstorms I can ever remember
00:29in Southern California. You combine that with how dry the air was, and then where the fire
00:34occurred. And where the fire occurred is more important than how big it was in the way of
00:39acreage. It's where it occurred in two very big urban areas. The amount of catastrophe that this
00:47has caused is hard to believe unless you've seen it a lot like I have and like you have, Jeff.
00:55Of all the damage, it's going to help the extensiveness of the damage.
00:59And the latest stats here on the fires here. Crews, at least from my perspective from a
01:04distance here, Ken, they did a tremendous job over the past 48 hours with perhaps a little help from
01:09the winds not reaching their full potential. What's your take on how things have behaved
01:15over the past 48 hours? It could have been worse in my opinion.
01:18Oh, it's gotten much better. And you can tell by just looking outside. Look outside here in
01:23Southern California. And you can't see anywhere near these fires, any flames anymore. You hardly
01:29see any thick smoke anymore. It's more hazy smoke type stuff. So you know these crews are really
01:35doing a great battle with these fires, getting them under control. And the weather is really,
01:40really going to cooperate over the next several days.
01:43And Ken, I know that you are in Rancho Cucamonga. Geographically, for somebody not in Southern
01:48California, where is that located? I'm located in what's called the
01:52Inland Empire, about 45 to 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and out near the riverside
01:57area, riverside on the map. I'm just to the west of there.
02:01Okay. And from your perspective, when you looked north or northwest back on, say, Wednesday of last
02:06week, what did you see? Could you see the smoke from your area? Could you see the column being
02:09swept offshore? I could see the column of smoke that was
02:14from the Eaton fire, that one in particular. Even though it was blowing to the west and to the
02:19southwest, I could still see it. And I drive maybe 10 miles farther down the road and I could
02:26really see it then. I wasn't really that far from that origin of that fire, maybe about 25,
02:3230 miles as I drive. Certainly an unsettling thing. And I know
02:36you've been, you see this through a different lens as somebody way better educated and much
02:41more versed on California weather than anybody we know here. That's why we're talking to you
02:47about this. So, Ken, when we talk about the forecast in the southwest here, I know there's
02:51still some risk tomorrow, but putting this in context compared to where we've been, we're
02:55moving in the right direction. Moving greatly in the right direction. We're
02:59going to have some breezes still even into tomorrow morning, especially in the Ventura
03:03County coastal plain, that area, maybe a bit below the Cajon Pass as well in the Inland
03:07Empire, but nothing like it was today. And then it's all over for several days. Winds
03:12will turn onshore just starting tomorrow afternoon. And by Friday, we're in a full
03:16fledge onshore flow through the weekend, going to bring back cooler temperatures,
03:21but most importantly, much more moisture in the air. In fact, so much moisture in the
03:26air, there probably will be some widespread low clouds and start both days of the weekend
03:31and maybe as early as Friday morning, running along the immediate coast.
03:34This is something, well, most people don't like seeing, but aren't going to see and be
03:38happy to see. Absolutely. And just real briefly,
03:41Ken, the concern does return to some extent then into next week. Could you talk about
03:46early indications for next week's Santa Ana wind event?
03:50There is concern and for good reason. Our models are not in great agreement of how strong
03:55a Santa Ana event may occur and where it occurs yet. And that's something we're going to have
04:00to watch. But some of our models are indicating we could have another strong one or we could
04:05have a weak one. Now, how are we going to know what's going to happen? I think we have
04:09to wait and see. And the best place to wait and see is right here on this channel, because
04:13we'll let you know first. All right. That's well said. We appreciate that, Ken. Thank
04:17you so much again. Active weather California expert Ken Clark. He's the best when it comes
04:22to Southern California and the entire Golden State. Thanks again, Ken Clark.
04:27You're welcome, Jeff.
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