Multiple wildfires are currently raging through Los Angeles County, forcing evacuations and destroying neighborhoods. A long dry summer created ample fuel that has combined with a lack of rainfall over the winter to extend fire season conditions.

The winds are common in California in the colder months, but they can sometimes help spread dangerous wildfires.

The devastating fires that have killed at least five people and forced the evacuations of tens of thousands of residents across the Los Angeles region are driven by Santa Ana winds that blow from the deserts of interior California and Nevada out to the Pacific Ocean.