A rare Particularly Dangerous Situation warning has been issued for Southern California as a powerful and potentially damaging Santa Ana wind event​ is expected.

The Hughes Fire near Castaic, California, has burned over 5,000 acres, prompting evacuations and school closures.

The Santa Ana winds are dry, powerful winds that blow down the mountains toward the Southern California coast. The region sees about 10 Santa Ana wind events a year on average, typically occurring from fall into January. When conditions are dry, as they are right now, these winds can become a severe fire hazard.

The Santa Anas are expected to be most powerful Monday night into Tuesday. Fire services across the region say they are ready.

Katabatic winds? Adiabatic compression? Time for a thermodynamics lesson! The record lack of rain has also made this Santa Ana event different.

The winds fueling Southern California wildfires form when a high-pressure system develops over the Great Basin in Utah and Nevada

The winds will come and go, with the strongest gusts expected early next week, especially next Monday night and into Tuesday, forecasters said.

President Donald Trump will visit southern California this week amid looming winds and threats of new flames with tens of thousands of acres torched and buildings destroyed, according to reports.

Rain expected in L.A. this weekend has raised concerns about mud flows, but the National Weather Service says the rains will not be significant enough to create dramatic flows capable of extinguishing the fires. Dr. Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist, added that coming rain could be meaningless.

Exhausted firefighters battling deadly infernos for weeks are now grappling with more wildfires torching Southern California – including one that’s threatening 14,000 structures.

A new wildfire that erupted in northern Los Angeles County rapidly consumed over 10,000 acres as authorities warned of an "immediate threat to life."