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By Rich McKay
(Reuters) -California firefighters could make more headway in containing three major wildfires burning in and around Los Angeles on Friday, as the latest round of blistering winds dissipates and the area's first rainfall in months arrives over the weekend.
The improved outlook comes after weeks of frustration in snuffing out the crisis, as crews contended with water shortages, gale-force winds, bone-dry air, and a steady outbreak of new fires that have stretched resources thin.
The fresh optimism coincides with a planned visit by President Donald Trump later on Friday to survey the destruction. Trump has sharply criticized local and state officials for their handling of the massive fires, which have incinerated entire neighborhoods, killing 28 people and damaging or destroying nearly 16,000 structures.
As much as 1.5 inches of rain was expected to fall this weekend as hot, dry Santa Ana winds eased, said Rich Otto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. After gusts of 60 mph on Thursday, winds would top out at 25-to-40 mph on Friday and diminish through the day.
"It'll be a cold rain starting late Saturday and continuing into Monday, with some snow in higher elevations, but the concern is areas with burn scars from the fires," he said.
But the region's first significant rainfall in months would also increase the risk of dangerous mudslides on hillsides denuded of vegetation by fires over the past two weeks.
Red flag warnings, signaling extreme fire danger, are set to expire in the Southern California area at 10 a.m. local time, said Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
"Basically, the reason is because of the slackening winds," he said. "The changing conditions will also bring higher humidity which should help fire containment."
The latest big fire to break out in the Los Angeles area has already scorched 10,300 acres in the San Fernando Valley but firefighters managed to achieve 36 percent control of the Hughes Fire's perimeter by late Thursday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on its website.
The Eaton and Palisades fires - on the eastern and western flanks of the metropolis - have burned for 18 days.
The Eaton Fire, which destroyed much of the Altadena community near Pasadena, was 95% contained, raising hope that firefighters could encircle its entirety on Friday.
The Palisades Fire, which has devastated the affluent Pacific Palisades enclave near Santa Monica, was 72% contained, Cal Fire said, late on Thursday.
A series of smaller fires also menaced the area in recent days. The Sepulveda Fire, which began early Thursday morning, has burned 45 acres along the 405 freeway near the Getty Center museum - home to numerous art treasures through 45 acres. Now 60% contained, the fore briefly caused part of the busy highway to be closed and forced some evacuations.
Two new blazes erupted on Thursday in the San Diego area. Evacuation orders were ordered but later lifted on Thursday in the La Jolla enclave near the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, after a two-acre brush fire erupted.
A second fire, further south near the U.S.-Mexico border, spread through the Otay Mountain Wilderness, and was reported at 4,250 acres and zero percent contained late on Thursday.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by Frank McGurty and Nick Zieminski)
