(TNS) - Critical fire weather is threatening California, as high winds, low humidity and dry conditions combine to form a sometimes lethal mix, the National Weather Service warned Monday.

A red flag warning is in effect for more than 3.8 million Northern Californians for the next three days, as wind gusts blow through the region.

In Southern California, Santa Ana winds will carry in warmer temperatures along with elevated fire dangers, forecasters said.

“We are looking at fall weather. Fall started early this morning,” Scott McLean, a deputy chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Monday. “So that means we’re going to have significant winds that will be blowing in the north state as well as the south state with the Santa Anas.”

The fire threat in the northern part of the state has prompted Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to consider preemptively shutting off power to about 21,000 customers in three counties, starting Monday evening. Such public safety power shutoffs are part of a strategy to reduce the risk of wildfires sparked by utility lines that break during extreme winds.

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