"Southern California's late wet season and precipitation will hold any drought back until late summer, but the Southwest monsoon moisture can extend back into the region in late July or August," said AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok. The SCU Lightning Complex ignited on Aug. 18 and burned 396,624 acres (619 square miles, or 1,605 square kilometers) over the next 44 days, according to Cal Fire. “How do you fight a wildfire in a pandemic?” he wonders, citing the close quarters of firefighters in the field and people forced to shelter in evacuation centers. The rare phenomenon was part of the Carr Fire, which burned large swaths of land in Northern California… REAL TIME VC & PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS AND NEWS. Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, Kansas City protestors to leave City Hall grounds after three weeks as talks with officials begin, Fast-food giants like Chipotle and Dunkin' are doubling down on TikTok. Plastic recycling in South Korea was already in crisis. Some Southern California locations are at or above normal for the rainfall season, but heading north along the coast, many are below. "It is rare that we get more than one large lightning-induced fire in a year in California; this year, we had 10 lightning complex fires," Potter told the Earth Observatory. The CZU Lightning Complex fire began on Aug. 16, according to Cal Fire, and burned for 37 days before being contained. The company’s neural networks run upward of 140 million model parameters to calculate probabilities of fire damage at the half square mile resolution across the state. I’m sure firefighters are experiencing high anxieties anticipating another long fire season.”, “Rather than May gray and June gloom, which tends to temper our low humidity and high temperatures in early summer, high pressure seems to be building over the West, which will dry us out and promote an early fire season,” said Patzert. This is coupled with a greater chance of drier conditions. California wildfires have grown rampant over the past five years. In fact, drought is greatly affecting large areas in the West as a result of the weak Southwest summer monsoon season and temperatures that were near record highs, according to the report. "It is disturbing to see how much of the redwood forest was burned," Potter said. 10.19.2020 07:00 AM. Here are the top 7 brands winning over Gen Z customers. Darker colors represent near-complete loss — charred landscapes with little to no living vegetation left. Column: They’re young and don’t love Biden, but can’t take any more of Trump. The brutal wildfire season in the West also is a byproduct of this. "Some researchers think these lightning storms may be related to climate change. The forecast covers the period between December 2020 and February 2021. The Department of Forestry and Fire protection singled out 35 "priority projects" that covered collectively approximately 90,000 acres and would "help reduce the wildfire risk for more than 200 communities.". It's the best mess ever, scientists say. Give these areas a month to desiccate and the green will be red.”, Patzert wonders about adding an early start of the fire season to the public health and economic hardships already associated with the coronavirus outbreak. New satellite imagery of California reveals not just the extent of its wildfire damage, but the depth of the loss. The state got a slight reprieve, however, thanks to rains in March and April. It's been a noticeably hot summer across the U.S. but when summer officially ends on … The pandemic is pushing it to the brink. Visit our corporate site. So far in 2020, the largest fourteen wildfires have destroyed more than three and half million acres in California. Daily Wildfire Report “It’s frightening to consider. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, The La Niña climate pattern is expected to worsen existing drought conditions in California in the coming months, according to a new outlook published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center. The Bobcat Fire is seen burning through the Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County, California, on Sept. 17, 2020. NASA's first attempt to sample an asteroid in space made a mess. Kettle’s technology and proprietary algorithms use terabytes of data from public and private data sources, such as NOAA weather data and NASA’s MODIS and LIDAR satellites. Northern California and the Pacific Northwest are gripped by an expanding drought. Writers Rachel Howzell Hall, Attica Locke and Ivy Pochoda talked with Times reporter James Queally for a 2020 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books event. For example, Santa Maria is at 77% of normal for the season as of May 1. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. California wildfires have grown rampant over the past five years. NY 10036. The National Interagency Fire Center map shows a below-normal potential for major wildfires along a coastal strip — indicated with green — from San Diego to the Bay Area, in recognition of late season rains. The maps derived from the satellite data show how far two major fires spread as well as how badly each region burned. Racial disparities in LAPD stops fueled by failed crime-fighting strategy, audit finds, An independent review of stops conducted by LAPD officers last year found that racial disparities previously identified in a Times investigation were in part the result of failed strategies to use traffic and minor violations “as a pretext to identify or suppress more serious crimes.”, Arcadia, a WWII incarceration site, names its first police chief of Japanese descent, Arcadia announced that 28-year veteran Capt. The Times endorses one incumbent and three newcomers for the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees. Do we need a COVID-19 video game? The outlook calls for normal to slightly warmer- and drier-than-average conditions through August, resulting in dry fuel conditions. "The initial conditions certainly raise some cause for concern," Thompson said. Started: September 27, 2020 Acres burned: 67,484 Containment: 100% Damage: 1555 buildings destroyed, 282 buildings damaged Description: Cal Fire says two smaller fires, the Shady Fire … In southern California, a brush fire on Thursday near Redlands triggered a small evacuation as it … "It was the first satellite image we could use to tell how severe the burn was across a broad area.". New forecasts show why masks are the easiest — and cheapest — way to save U.S. lives. "Northern California had some rain recently, but that's probably where there are going to be bad wildfire conditions," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Dave Samuhel. 19 October 2020. 2020 Fire Season. The Daily Deal Newsletter I think we might. Drought in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California portends an early start to the fire season. He joined the Los Angeles Times in 1996. Leveraging a form of machine learning called swarm intelligence, the company’s model predicted all fourteen of these fires were in the top 20 percent of areas most likely to burn across California’s hundred plus million acres. PG&E: As one PSPS comes to a close, another looms, PG&E pushes forward with public safety power shutoff, Heat will break for Bay Area — but not for long, Flex Alert could add to number without electricity as PG&E begins public safety power shutoff. Newsom estimated potential federal assistance at $346 million. a new outlook published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center. California’s November election will feature 12 statewide ballot measures. Much of northwestern California and western Oregon is in severe drought, and a patch of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon is considered to be in extreme drought. It was the first rain-free February for downtown San Francisco since 1864. La Niña refers to the cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator that affects wind patterns and weather. This activist is right to call for defunding the police anyway. If global warming means more lightning storms like this in California, then we are in trouble.". It is all here. Forecasters: California’s winter weather…, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Coronavirus: New cases increasing slightly in California, Forecasters: California’s winter weather prediction. The NOAA report includes forecasts for the entire continental U.S.; cooler, wetter conditions are predicted in the northern parts of the country, in part due to La Niña. These conditions would worsen ongoing drought in the state in the near term. An outburst of dry lightning in August 2020 triggered wildfires across the state of California. “Young people of all ages are fed up”: Trump has awakened young voters, turned bystanders into activists and brought them to a common cause. In 2013, Arizona’s Yarnell Hill Fire moved so quickly that it killed 19 firefighters who couldn’t outpace it.