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 Tuesday at 1:20 a.m. an updated high wind warning was issued by the NWS San Diego CA valid from 4 p.m. until Wednesday 6 p.m. The warning is for San Diego County Inland Valleys, Riverside County Mountains and San Diego County Mountains.

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