As winds across the Southern California area are calmer than their peak and firefighters are making progress, the threat to the fire-weary region remains with Santa Ana winds expected to continue in the coming days.

Winds have picked up and are expected to continue through Tuesday morning, raising the risk of new wildfires sparking

Santa Ana winds will continue whipping through Southern California through Thursday, sparking fears that progress made fighting wildfires that have scorched over 40,000 acres and left 28 dead could be reversed and more blazes could break out.

Critical fire weather is expected to continue until Wednesday at the earliest, increasing the risk that fires will spread further.

Parched Southern California continued to face dangerous winds but could get some badly needed rain this weekend, forecasters said Tuesday, dampening the prospects of another round of killer wildfires though even a small amount of precipitation could could create new challenges like toxic ash runoff.

A second day of ferocious winds were forecast for Tuesday in Southern California where firefighters remained on alert and extreme fire weather raised the risk of new wildfires two weeks after two major blazes still burning in the Los Angeles area sparked.

Parched Southern California could get some badly needed rain this weekend to dampen the prospects of another round of deadly wildfires. But even a small amount of precipitation could create