Fierce winds -- some gusting at more than 100 mph -- have begun battering Southern California, driving up already-sweltering temperatures Friday as a tropical storm that could drop a year's worth of rain pushes in and threatens dangerous flash flooding across the drought-stricken state.
The extreme weather comes as Tropical Storm Kay trudges northward after making landfall Thursday in Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane. While Kay has weakened to a tropical storm, it is still packing sustained winds of 45 mph. And it is enhancing winds through mountain terrain -- similar to a Santa Ana wind event -- to much stronger gusts, including a 109-mph blast Friday at Cuyamaca Peak in the San Diego Mountains, the National Weather Service reported.
As Kay's rotating winds push warm, dry air from the east, much of Southern and Central California -- already baking through a climate crisis-fueled heat wave -- will stay under excessive heat warnings through 8 p.m. Friday. And concern is growing that erratic, strong winds will spread already-burning wildfires, including the Fairview Fire, which has killed two people and exploded in size this week, forcing evacuations as it's burned more than 27,000 acres.
"With the really strong winds, we could continue to see the fires that are already burning continue to burn and spread before the rain actually gets here," the National Weather Service in San Diego told CNN.
The extreme weather comes as Tropical Storm Kay trudges northward after making landfall Thursday in Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane. While Kay has weakened to a tropical storm, it is still packing sustained winds of 45 mph. And it is enhancing winds through mountain terrain -- similar to a Santa Ana wind event -- to much stronger gusts, including a 109-mph blast Friday at Cuyamaca Peak in the San Diego Mountains, the National Weather Service reported.
As Kay's rotating winds push warm, dry air from the east, much of Southern and Central California -- already baking through a climate crisis-fueled heat wave -- will stay under excessive heat warnings through 8 p.m. Friday. And concern is growing that erratic, strong winds will spread already-burning wildfires, including the Fairview Fire, which has killed two people and exploded in size this week, forcing evacuations as it's burned more than 27,000 acres.
"With the really strong winds, we could continue to see the fires that are already burning continue to burn and spread before the rain actually gets here," the National Weather Service in San Diego told CNN.
