Climate Changed
Southern California Faces Extreme Fire Risk From Dry Winds
- Strongest Santa Ana wind event of the season is expected
- Threat follows deadly wine country fires that killed over 40
Residences burned by wildfires in Santa Rosa on Oct. 12, 2017.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Dry and warm gusts blowing in from the desert have elevated the wildfire risk in Southern California to critical, several weeks after deadly flames tore through wine country to the north.
The strongest Santa Ana winds of the season threaten more than 14,000 square miles (36,260 square kilometers) covering a population in excess of 19.9 million, according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. That includes Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino. They’re expected to last through Thursday.