Dozens of communities are now under mandatory evacuation orders in Southern California with evacuation warnings affecting dozens more as crews continued battling a pair of deadly wildfires in the region Friday.

The fierce winds in the Los Angeles area subsided Friday, but critical fire weather conditions remain and red flag warnings are still in place.

There is great concern that fire weather conditions could become exacerbated' again for Los Angeles County. Three Santa Ana wind events are possible next week.

Red flag criteria is generally when relative humidity is at 15% or less, combined with sustained winds and/or gusts of 25 mph or greater. Both of these conditions must occur simultaneously for at least 3 hours in a 12 hour period, according to the NWS.

Dire warnings have been issued for the Los Angeles area, with a dangerous threat for the strongest wind event in more than a decade. Outages and extreme fire behaviours are major risks

That’s leading to the creation of mountain waves, which arise when strong winds blow perpendicular to a mountain range. The waves shoot down the coastal side of the mountains, gaining speed along the way, and are more casually referred to as simple Santa Ana winds.

A short reprieve in the strong destructive winds has granted firefighters an opportunity to curb the spread of the deadly Eaton Fire near Pasadena.

The Santa Ana winds will stick around into Friday morning as most of the region remains under a critical fire risk.The National Weather Service extended a red flag warning for much of the region until 6 p.