Wind Conditions Throughout the Day of Palisades Fire
A review of data from all 44 weather stations within roughly a 20-mile radius of the fire shows that winds on January 7 never approached “extreme” levels.
- Daily peak sustained wind: 40.8 mph at 10:45 p.m. PST, recorded at Station KCAMALIB52 (Malibu, 7 miles from the fire).
- Since archived records begin in 1947, there have been 26 separate days with sustained winds ≥ 40.8 mph at the same or neighboring stations, so the January 7 maximum is well within the historical range.
- Peak gust: 60 mph (same station, 10:50 p.m.).
- For context, hurricane-force winds start at 74 mph (Category 1: 74–95 mph). The strongest gust on January 7 was 14 mph below that threshold.
- Typical station readings:
- 35 of 44 stations (≈ 80 %) never rose above 30 mph sustained all day.
- The Los Angeles International Airport station (KLAX) topped out at 29 mph sustained at 8:00 p.m.; there have been 453 days with equal or stronger winds at KLAX since 1947.
*See Anomalies section below. Four of the 48 stations were excluded due to anomalies: one station consistently reported wind speeds approximately twice as high as neighboring stations and was classified as an outlier, while three others reported wind speeds of zero throughout the day, indicating likely sensor malfunction or data loss.
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