Wildfires in California show no signs of slowing down
On Tuesday, Santa Claus Ana winds swept across Southern California, spreading embers and then fanning ever-growing wildfires. At night, residents received emergency text alerts warning of possible 100 mph wind gusts—a terrifying escalation that turned a precarious situation into a full-blown crisis. As the winds howled, more embers flew, sparking new fires in dry, fragile lands that had not seen significant rain in more than eight months.
Los Angeles County, wracked by extreme conditions such as drought, is a tinderbox waiting for a spark. Firefighters face an uphill battle against winds so harsh that planes used to drop water and fire retardant have been grounded. Officials warned in a press release Wednesday morning that “all residents of Los Angeles County are at risk.” Evacuation orders have since displaced tens of thousands of residents, with thousands more pending updates. By Wednesday evening, three major fires had burned more than 13,000 acres with delayed containment efforts: the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades and Malibu, the Hurst Fire in Sylmar and the still unmarked Eaton Fire near Pasadena signal slowing down, at the time of writing. 0% and has become the most destructive place in California history.
“The fires became catastrophic so quickly because of unusually dry and windy conditions,” said Jennifer Marlon, a research scientist and lecturer at Yale: “Any small spark, whether from lightning or People or campfires will quickly spread quickly.” School of the Environment and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. “Once a fire starts in these conditions, it is very difficult to control,” added Kaitlyn Trudeau, senior research associate in climate science at the nonprofit news organization Climate Central.
Santa Ana wind phenomena are not uncommon. “We see it every year at this time,” said Jason Moreland, senior meteorologist at emergency communications platform AlertMedia. These downhill winds originate over land, caused by dry high-pressure systems coming from the northwest and moist, low-pressure systems from the south. “It’s like you have a hose and you fold it in half to cut off the water. If you poke a hole in the side, you have a lot of pressure to get out,” Trudeau explains. “That’s basically what’s happening to the air.”
However, these winds were much stronger than normal due to a decrease in the jet stream near the Baja peninsula in northwestern Mexico, Moreland explained. Winds that normally move to higher elevations are reaching areas with lower terrain. “Every few decades, we experience winds of this magnitude,” he said.
While this wind event may seem extreme, Noah Diffenbaugh, professor and senior fellow at Stanford’s Forest Environment Instituteexplains that the cause may just be natural weather changes—and that more research is needed to know whether climate change is to blame.
However, although the wind is not seasonal, climate change is are increasing risks Late or early season wildfires in California. “Not only is this a particularly strong wind, but it is also an exceptionally dry season here in early January,” Diffenbaugh said. Southern California’s rainy season, which runs from October to April, has record low rainfall, following one of the driest seasons on record. Because the rainfall is change more due to climate changeThe overlap between the windy season and the dry season is increasing. “We are seeing significantly more hot, dry and windy days, especially in Southern California,” Trudeau said.
