Deepening Drought Holds ‘Ominous’ Signs For Wildfire Threat In The West By Eric Westervelt May 6, 2021 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. Fuel moisture — the amount of water inside a living plant — “is the lowest that we’ve recorded at these sites since 2013,” says Craig Clements, director of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San Jose State University. “It’s indicative of very dangerous conditions coming into this summer.”