LOS ANGELES (AP) — California was bracing Tuesday for another round of powerful winds that will cause humidity levels to drop and raise the risk of wildfires in much of the state.
For the second time in three weeks, a “diablo wind” — notorious in autumn for its hot, dry gusts — was expected to whip up starting in the evening across Northern California.
Forecasters have issued red flag warnings for fire danger until Thursday from the central coast through the San Francisco Bay Area and into counties to the north.
Sustained winds of 25 mph (40 kph) are expected in many areas, with possible gusts topping 55 mph (88.5 kph) along mountaintops, according to the National Weather Service.
During a diablo wind, common in the fall, the air is so dry that relative humidity levels plunge, drying out vegetation and making it ready to burn. The name — “diablo” is Spanish for “devil” — is informally applied to a hot wind that blows near the San Francisco region from the interior toward the coast as high pressure builds over the West.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it was prepared to turn off power to a small number of customers starting late Tuesday in areas where strong gusts could damage electrical equipment and spark blazes.
Targeted power shutoffs were also possible in Southern California, where another notorious weather phenomenon, the Santa Ana winds, were expected to intensify Wednesday and Thursday.
Winds around greater Los Angeles will likely be more powerful than up north, with gusts reaching 80 mph (129 kph), and even higher in mountain locations, the National Weather Service said. A high wind warning was issued starting early Wednesday for much of LA and Ventura counties.
Los Angeles city workers remove the remains of a fallen tree blown over by intense winds that crushed a fence in a city park on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Swedish prosecutors announced Sunday night that they have opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland earlier that day.
“Several authorities, including the National Police Operations Department, the Coast Guard and the Armed Forces, are involved in the investigation,” said Mats Ljungqvist, senior prosecutor at the National Security Unit, according to a press release.
The Swedish Coast Guard confirmed to the newspaper Expressen that they were on site near the vessel which the paper identified as the Malta-flagged Vezhen, at anchor near the port of Karlskrona.
“We are directly on site with the seized ship and are taking measures as decided by the prosecutor,” said Mattias Lindholm, spokesperson for the Coast Guard.
According to data from Vesselfinder, the vessel departed from the Russian port of Ust-Luga several days earlier and was navigating between Gotland and Latvia at the time the damage was suspected of having occurred.
Latvia's state-run radio and TV center said Sunday that it recorded disruptions in data transmission on the cable running from the town of Ventspils to the Swedish island of Gotland, and concluded there was a rupture.
The media organization said it was able to operate using other data transmission routes, while it was taking steps to have the cable repaired.
“At the moment, there is reason to believe that the cable is significantly damaged and that the damage is caused by external influences,” Vineta Sprugaine, head of corporate communications at LVRTC, was quoted as saying by the LSM state broadcaster.
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa wrote on X that her government was “working together with our Swedish Allies and NATO on investigating the incident, including to patrolling the area, as well as inspecting the vessels that were in the area.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X that at least one cable belonging to a “Latvian entity” was believed to have been damaged and that he has been “in close contact” with Siliņa during the day Sunday.
Sunday's rupture follows a string of incidents that have heightened fears of Russian sabotage and spying in the strategic region. There have been previous incidents reported of ruptures of data cables running on the Baltic sea bed, allegedly linked to Russia’s shadow fleet — hundreds of aging tankers of uncertain ownership that are dodging sanctions and keeping oil revenue coming into the country.
Earlier this month, NATO began a new mission dubbed “Baltic Sentry” which included frigates, maritime patrol aircraft and a fleet of naval drones to provide “enhanced surveillance and deterrence” in the Baltic Sea which the transatlantic alliance says is to protect undersea cables and pipelines.
NATO naval vessels are docked at Ofelia Plads in Copenhagen Harbor, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, as the vessel A803 will participate in NATO's enhanced operation, Baltic Sentry, in the Baltic Sea to protect critical infrastructure such as wires and cables on the seabed. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)