A red flag warning was in place Wednesday for the Inland Empire and Southern California valleys as unusually strong, dry Santa Ana winds created optimal weather conditions for wildfires to develop and spread.

The combination of strong winds and low humidity makes for “prime fire weather” when mixed with dry vegetation, National Weather Service meteorologist Sebastian Westerink said.

Due to the elevated fire danger, Southern California Edison temporarily shut off power in high-risk areas in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, affecting approximately 38,016 customers by early afternoon Wednesday.

The shutoff aims to reduce the risk of winds damaging power lines and igniting fires, Southern California Edison spokesperson Gabriele Ornelas said.

Conditions will continue to be monitored for improvement, with power expected to be restored by today.

While red flag warnings were issued for most of Los Angeles County, the San Gabriel Mountains and San Fernando Valley in particular were at risk due to widespread and long-lasting Santa Ana winds this week.

The conditions in these areas were described as highly volatile, with 30 to 40 mph winds and gusts up to 70 mph into Wednesday night.

Downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach and the San Gabriel Valley were not as impacted, with winds between 15 to 30 mph.

Today will remain very dry with a little less wind, weather service meteorologist Mike Wofford said.

In Orange County, northeast winds between 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are projected in inland areas such as Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.

The Inland Empire will see similar weather conditions, with 20 to 30 mph winds and gusts around 55 mph, including in Corona, San Bernardino, and Lake Arrowhead, Westerink said.

Motorists on the 210, 15, 10 and 60 freeways should exercise extra caution as blowing debris — usually trash — can obscure vision, San Bernardino County Fire Capt. Eric Sherwin said. He also recommends checking on outdoor pets and ensuring they have fresh, clean water on these particularly dry days.

Due to the windy weather, the aircraft landings at the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital’s 24th annual Cops for Kids Fly-in were canceled. Helicopters from the Riverside and Ontario police departments, the San Bernardino County and Riverside County sheriff’s departments and the California Highway Patrol would normally land on the hospital’s north lawn as children watched, but the high winds pose problems, Riverside police pilot Ian Crocker said.

“We ran into a problem with winds blowing ash and dust off the mountains,” he said, prompting officials to cancel the portion of the event where the children would watch the helicopters land.

The wind direction would have also made the approach and landing difficult, he added.

Even so, officials still planned to circle helicopters above the hospital for the children to watch.

And the officers still planned to show up in a caravan of vehicles and deliver thousands of presents, Crocker said.