High winds that weather officials have called "life-threatening and destructive" are hitting Southern California Tuesday, sparking a major brush fire in Pacific Palisades and prompting thousands of power outages.

On Monday at 7:34 p.m. the NWS Hanford CA issued an updated high wind warning valid from 10 p.m. until Wednesday 7 a.m. The warning is for Indian Wells Valley, Mojave Desert Slopes and Mojave Desert.

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