Tag Archives: California Drought

Wildfire in California canyons spreads overnight

Smoke is illuminated by the Whittier wildfire near Santa Ynez, California, U.S. July 8, 2017. Picture taken July 8, 2017.

(Reuters) – A fast-moving wildfire burned overnight through thousands more acres of steep terrain near California’s central coast, officials said on Sunday, as high temperatures and parched vegetation fueled dozens of blazes in the U.S. West and Southwest.

The Alamo Fire has engulfed about 23,900 acres in the area of the border between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, a few miles from the city of Santa Maria, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire for short. That was up from 19,000 acres on Saturday evening.

Youths are evacuated by sheriff's deputies from a campground near the Whittier wildfire near Santa Ynez, California,

Youths are evacuated by sheriff’s deputies from a campground near the Whittier wildfire near Santa Ynez, California, U.S. July 9, 2017. Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office/Handout via REUTERS.

About 15 percent of the fire had been contained by Sunday evening, Cal Fire tweeted. The fire has so far destroyed one structure and was threatening more than 130 others, Cal Fire said.

On Saturday, hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate the remote canyons affected by the fire. No injuries have been reported. Hundreds of firefighters were trying to stop the fire from reaching wineries to the south and electric transmission lines to the southeast, Santa Barbara County officials said.

The Alamo Fire was one of about 50 large uncontained fires burning in western states, the National Weather Service said on Sunday morning.

Smoke rises from the Alamo fire near Santa Maria, California, U.S. in this July 8, 2017

Smoke rises from the Alamo fire near Santa Maria, California, U.S. in this July 8, 2017 handout photo obtained by Reuters July 9, 2017. San Luis Obispo Fire Department/Handout via REUTERS.

A wave of scorching weather has hit California in recent days. On Saturday, a fire at an electrical power station in Los Angeles left 140,000 residents without power, after a second straight day marked by temperatures that exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).

 

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen and Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Chris Reese)

 

California wildfires likely to worsen as season peaks

A firefighter stands on steep terrain while fire crews create fire breaks at Garrapata State Park during the Soberanes Fire north of Big Sur, California, U.S

(Reuters) – Drought conditions in California risk stoking new and ongoing wildfires as the season enters its peak, a forecaster said on Wednesday after several blazes already killed at least six people and charred thousands of acres so far this year.

The warning came as 5,500 firefighters battled a wildfire near the Big Sur coast, a well-known tourist destination. Dubbed the Soberanes Fire, it has scorched some 44,000 acres (17,800 hectares) and dozens of homes in the area, fire officials said.

Little rain and the strong, dry Santa Ana winds will likely stoke more wildfires as the peak of the wildfire season begins, AccuWeather said. The wildfire season officially begins in May and stretches into September.

“It’s bad now and it’s only going to get worse,” long-range forecaster Paul Pastelok said.

The Soberanes Fire began on July 22 and was sparked by an illegal, unattended camp fire in a section in Garrapata State Park that was closed to camping, the U.S. Forest Service said on Tuesday. No arrests have been made, the service said.

Fire personnel battling the blaze have been able to draw containment lines – a measure of how much of its perimeter has been cleared by fire crews of unburned vegetation – around only 25 percent of the wildfire so far.

A bulldozer operator hired by property owners to help battle the Soberanes blaze died last week when his vehicle rolled over. It was the second wildfire-related death in California in a week, another person having been found dead in his car in the path of the Sand Fire in Los Angeles County. Four people were killed in other blazes in June.

The fire threat has prompted the closure of several popular California campgrounds and recreation areas along the northern end of the Big Sur coastline, including Point Lobos State Natural Reserve and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.

Another fire that broke out on Saturday in grass and brush about 30 miles northeast of Fresno, in central California, has since charred about 2,185 acres and is threatening 400 structures, prompting evacuations in the area, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

Nine structures, including four homes, have been destroyed, fire officials said. On Tuesday evening, the so-called Goose Fire was listed as 60 percent contained.

(This version of the story corrects to singular “forecaster” in first paragraph, not “forecasters”)

Strongest El Niño in 18 Years

The National Weather Service’s Climate prediction Center has announced that  El Niño is already is strong and mature and is forecasted to gain strength.  This El Niño is expected to be among the three strongest on record since 1950.

For drought ravaged California, that is very good news.  This strong  El Niño in the Pacific Ocean is becoming even more powerful, setting the stage for an unusually wet winter in California that could bring heavy rains by January,

El Niño is an anomalous, yet periodic, warming of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. For reasons still not well understood, every two to seven years, this patch of ocean warms for six to 18 months according to Weather.com.  

Generally, El Niño doesn’t peak in California until January, February and March, Bill Patzert, climatologist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge said. That’s when Californians should expect “mudslides, heavy rainfall, one storm after another like a conveyor belt.”

Forecasters predict warmer temperatures in the North over the winter due to El Niño with more precipitation of snow and ice as well as possible tornadoes in the South and Midwest.