San Diego County edged closer to drought Tuesday, whipped by fierce and damaging Santa Ana winds that further dried out a region that hasn’t gotten a long, deep soaking of rain since March.

Power to tens of thousands of people had been shut off by Monday night as utilities worked to mitigate the impacts of Southern California’s notorious Santa Ana winds, whose strong gusts could damage electrical equipment and spark wildfires.

Southern California is bracing for another round of strong, potentially dangerous Santa Ana winds just over a month after a similar wind event helped fuel the Mountain Fire, which scorched nearly 20,000 acres in Ventura County and sent residents scrambling for safety as flames closed in.