"The numbers are really, really bad," Swain says. "If this were November, they might be less meaningful. We're not in November-we're heading toward mid-February. The normal numbers are pretty high. To be at half of them means that, in absolute terms, the deficit is large."
The Fix Our Forests Act isn't about environmental safety; rather, it is a blatant attempt at expanding the logging industry under the cover of wildfire prevention. Congress is rushing to pass a bill that dramatically expands backcountry logging while weakening environmental review and public input, allowing projects up to 15 square miles to bypass the National Environmental Policy Act. Decades of research shows that logging can actually increase fire severity by leaving behind flammable debris and drying forest microclimates.
When Zillow Group Inc. removed climate risk scores from its home listings last month, following a complaint from the real estate industry, many observers took to the press and social media to warn that disappearing the data doesn't get rid of the risk. In a world assailed by extreme weather, homeowners and purchasers need to know their property's vulnerability to wildfire or flooding.
On Monday morning, a homeless man sat in front of the county courthouse in Malibu, where he sleeps each night. In front of him was a small, green propane tank affixed with a torch, which he said he uses to cook and form wood pipes for tobacco and cannabis. A short walk away is Legacy Park, an oasis of coastal prairies, bluffs and native woodlands.
After months of slight temperature shifts in the Pacific Ocean, La Niña has officially returned - the climate pattern that typically drives drought in Southern California. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday that La Niña conditions had arrived, a possibly foreboding sign for the Southland. The southern half of the Golden State still has not bounced back from the last year of below-average rainfall, and the reemergence of the ocean phenomenon could mean more drought, with another drier-than-average winter.
Southern California could feel more like Florida the rest of this week, forecasters said, as moisture from a tropical storm in the eastern Pacific shifts north, boosting humidity and the chance for unstable weather in the region. "The next several days, we're getting the remnants of the energy from Tropical Storm Mario," said Rich Thompson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. "It's giving us this threat of thunderstorms." Those storms could create fires from dry-lightning strikes or flash floods and debris flows depending on how strong they turn out to be, the National Weather Service warned.
Tuesday is expected to be the hottest day of the week, with warmer valley areas in L.A. County expected to reach the triple digits and temperatures in inland coastal areas ranging from the 80s to lower 90s, according to the National Weather Service. The hot weather will continue on Wednesday and coincide with a risk of thunderstorms that will persist through midday Friday.
"This one has quite a bit of energy with it," Lewis said. "There is definitely concern for fire starts due to lightning strikes. I think lightning and wind are the biggest concerns right now."
In addition to damaging properties, wildfire can also cut off access to utilities, emergency services, impact evacuation routes, and may impact the overall economic well-being of an area.
