Parts of California on fire while record snow expected in the Dakotas

ABC News(NEW YORK) — At least 9 fires are burning this morning in California, 5 of which are burning in southern California as gusty offshore winds continue.

Some of the highest wind gusts overnight have been up to 72 mph in San Bernardino County and up to 60 mph in Los Angeles county.

Numerous Red Flag Warnings continue in the West including Nevada, Arizona and California with high wind warnings for the Los Angeles metro area.

There is Extreme Fire Danger that was issued by the NOAA for southern California from Los Angeles down to San Diego through this morning and into this afternoon.

Winds this morning and into early afternoon could gust up to 75 mph in southern California with humidity falling to less than 5% in some areas.

Lighter winds are forecast for Friday night and into Saturday but humidity will stay very low throughout the day.

Elsewhere, up to 2 feet of snow fell in Montana and up to 15 inches in Colorado making roads treacherous for millions.

Denver fell 72 degrees since Wednesday afternoon when the area was in the 80’s and now the temp is 11 degrees and wind chill is 1 degree below zero. This is one of the biggest temperature plunge in recorded history!

A Blizzard Warning has also been issued for North Dakota with Winter weather alerts for South Dakota and Minnesota. A combination of winds up to 50 mph and feet of snow could create near zero visibility and shut down interstates such as I-90, I94 and I-29.

This will be a historic October snowstorm for the Dakotas with some areas possibly seeing close to 3 feet, especially in eastern North Dakota.

Behind this storm, however, the coldest air of the season will arrive into the Midwest and the South, with Freeze Warnings from Texas to Wisconsin.

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