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Wildfires continued to burn across the Los Angeles area on Friday, prompting evacuations and school closures across the region. Next week promises little opportunity for rest; Conditions will remain favorable for the growth of existing wildfires and the possibility of new fires, as storms continue to move through unusually dry areas.
The elders said five big fires across the Los Angeles area starting Friday morning. The Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu has consumed more than 20,000 acres, while Eaton’s fire in Altadena has grown to over 10,000 acres. About 10,000 homes are thought to have been destroyed in Los Angeles, and 10 people have been killed.
Hot weather requires dry vegetation, low humidity, and strong winds. The combination of these factors makes a fire start easily and spread quickly; it was this dangerous mix that caused the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire to grow beyond crews’ ability to control them earlier in the week.
The firemen have succeeded start fire controlsupported by external reinforcements, water contained in hydrants refilledand the wind speed decreases. (Also helping the fire spread faster, a the Santa Ana storm earlier in the week (sometimes they stopped firefighting planes from dousing the flames with water and fire retardant.) The downside is that the winds may be about to pick up again—and in all other respects, things may not happen. in favor of firefighters soon.
The Storm Prediction CenterThe National Weather Service, which is responsible for providing fire weather forecasts, says the risk of fire will continue in Los Angeles until the end of this week.
We could see two more Santa Ana wind events in the coming days – early Sunday morning, and possibly Tuesday. This burning can encourage the spread of existing fires and ignite additional fires.
The Santa Ana wind event occurs when there is a gap between the Great Basin – a large area in Nevada and Utah – and the coastal areas around Los Angeles.
Meteorologists often use the air difference between Las Vegas and Los Angeles to predict these winds. The difference in pressure creates strong winds that rush to the coast, which feed the existing wildfires. Here’s what he predicts we may see again in the coming days.
Vegetation will continue to be very dry throughout the region. It’s the middle of southern California’s rainy season right now—but the rain is nowhere to be found. After seeing its third rain in February of last year, Los Angeles International Airport reported only 0.03 inches of rain since the beginning of last summer.
Despite mid-January being the best time for rainy weather in Los Angeles, there is little hope for meaningful rain in the next week and a half. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center announced Thursday that we have entered La Niña, a colder-than-normal water level in the Pacific Ocean around the equator. Atmospheric changes in response to La Niña can force the jet stream to the north in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, which prevents storms from reaching the West Coast of Canada instead of the western US, countries suffering from drought like California.
In the near future, the tropical storm over the Pacific Ocean will remain near the Gulf of Alaska until mid-January, giving a small chance of rain reaching southern California.
Forecasters expect a weak La Niña to last through the winter, with a good chance the pattern will fade in the spring. Unfortunately, this time may coincide with the onset of the dry season in Southern California.
This does not mean that we may not see a chance of rain in the coming months. However, very little rain until mid-January will result in dry vegetation across the region. The continued risk of new fires and the growth of additional fires is dependent on lower humidity and strong winds – and Santa Ana’s wind conditions could be dangerous in the coming weeks.