A heatwave swept drought-strickenNorthern California this week, breaking records and baking an already parched landscape.
While Cal Fire shows only a handful of blazes now burning – most of which are largely contained – hot and dry conditions have led the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue excessive heat warnings and advisories in the region.
Temperatures began to climb following Memorial Day weekend, and cities north of Sacramento reported heat rising to the triple digits.
According to AccuWeather, the city of Redding saw a high of 109 degrees Fahrenheit on the holiday, reportedly setting a new all-time high for the month of May.
Dry and windy conditions signal peak wildfire season is ahead of schedule
KTVU s Emma Goss reports.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - A weekend red flag warning for parts of the North and East Bay Area has been extended through 6pm on Tuesday due to dry and breezy conditions, the National Weather Service reported.
Red flag warnings are unusual this early in the year, but because California is in a drought, and water levels are below average, the bigger fires Northern California routinely sees in the months of August and September could spark as early as July.
The extended red flag warning means we expect more fires, we expect to keep our increased staffing on duty, Jonathan Cox, deputy fire chief with the San Mateo division of Cal Fire, said.
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Fire Season is Back: This Time it’s Serious (Part 1 of 3) [Live Recording]
Climate Change by the Elements, Now with Coronavirus: A live-audio cast hosted by Thaddeus Howze and Carol Bluestein.
Fire season is back. If the San José State University’s Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center in Northern California is correct, we are expecting the upcoming wildfire season could top even 2020, which, for the state of California, was its most severe in modern history. The 2021 fire season is predicted to be even larger than 2020. The causes of such a deadly fire season are varied including:
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Owner and founder Jeff Smith in front of what remains of Hourglass winery and processing facility in Napa. He s rebuilding, but wildfires have him re-thinking everything about his land and business. Eric Westervelt/NPR
After one of the most destructive and extreme wildfire seasons in modern history last year, a widening drought across California and much of the West has many residents bracing for the possibility this season could be worse.
Anemic winter rain and snowfall has left reservoirs and river flows down significantly, even as the state experiences its driest water year in more than four decades. Today, wildfire fuels in some parts of California are at or near record levels of dryness.