The windy weather conditions that have fueled the furious spread of wildfires in Southern California finally started to ease on Wednesday afternoon. The worst winds may be over, but the fire danger remains, and another round of powerful winds is expected to pick up again on Thursday afternoon.

“It’s a long duration event,” said Devin Black, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.

Wind speeds across Los Angeles and eastern Ventura Counties gradually dropped off in the afternoon, but were still strong.

Just after 1 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Mr. Black said some areas were gusting up to 60 miles per hour. Overnight, the winds were as fast as 80 m.p.h., even near 100 m.p.h. in the mountains.

Wind speeds are expected to continue to decrease slowly into the evening.

Another concern is the shifting wind direction. Andrew Rorke, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, warned that the winds were expected to shift slightly and blow from the northeast, which could push the Palisades fire west, where there are more structures.

Even with the strong winds out of the northeast, swirling wind patterns known as eddies have formed in some locations, including near the Eaton fire east of Los Angeles. These changing winds, which can spin behind the downwind side of a large object, like a mountain, a rock outcropping or a building, could cause the fires to spread in unpredictable ways.

Even as the winds ease on Thursday, the multiple fires and extremely parched vegetation mean that even weak winds could continue to create a wildfire hazard.

More danger may be looming. In the latest forecast on Wednesday afternoon, the Weather Service said another round of Santa Ana winds may arrive by Thursday afternoon, earlier than expected.

After a brief reprieve Wednesday night into Thursday morning, the winds could pick up again later on Thursday, peaking overnight and continuing into Friday morning across Los Angeles and Ventura counties, forecasters warned. Earlier forecasts indicated the next event would likely begin Friday.This next Santa Ana wind event is expected to be more typical than the current one, with predominantly northeasterly winds focused along the typical Santa Ana wind corridor from the Santa Clarita Valley to Point Mugu. In this area, gusts are likely to be up to 40 m.p.h. in lower-lying areas and up to 60 m.ph., even 70 m.p.h. in the valleys and foothills.

“We’ve got the gusty winds, but it’s not like the horrific gusts of 80 to 100 m.p.h.” said Carol Smith, a meteorologist with the Weather Service.

Weather conditions are expected to improve over the weekend, but yet another Santa Ana event is likely next week.