By ONME Newswire
The fire season in California is becoming more predictable than the previous historical fire season months of May through October, with September and October being the most vulnerable months; now consider fire season year round in the drought-ridden state.
Lakes beds are drying up; dry brush is becoming the perfect combustible fuel when tiny sparks manifest through human negligence, Santa Ana winds or abnormal, dry lighting storms due to climate change. The fire season becomes a blazed at that very moment.
In fact the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) stated on their website that California continues to experience longer wildfire seasons as a direct result of climate change.
Extended dryness originating from January is expected to continue into the spring with little precipitation, leaving most of the state in moderate to extreme drought conditions prior to summer. These continued dry conditions, with above normal temperatures through spring, will leave fuel moisture levels lower than normal, increasing the potential for wild land fire activity.
In southern part of California, the Santa Ana winds whip its notorious wind gust from 40 miles per hour to 85 miles per hour. These winds tend to spread its embers to past the average fire distance.
Informative fire webisode, Frontline, confirmed that the the Santa Ana winds are an infamous factor for wildfires in California due to the fanning effects that they have on fire.
Additionally, these winds can carry embers for extraordinary distances. While autumn rain typically takes place well before these winds arrive in California, over the years, there has been an increasing delay in the wet season.
Currently, there are five fires burning up California acreage where only two of them are more than 95 percent contained. But two other fires are barely 35% contained, while one fire continues to burn out of the control, blazing through 40 acres of land and is zero percent contained.
Here is a list of the current fires burning in different regions of California:
Oak Fire (Mariposa County) 18,715 acres and 32% contained
Anzar Fire (San Benito County) 104 acres and 95% contained
Casner Fire (San Diego County) 40 acres and 0% contained
Cable Fire (El Dorado County) 20 acres and 35% contained
