Editor’s Note: Stay updated on the Los Angeles wildfires by reading the live updates on Saturday, Jan. 11, from USA TODAY. A surge of wildfires has swiftly spread throughout Los Angeles, propelled by strong Santa Ana winds, low humidity, and drought-dried vegetation due to scant rainfall. Los Angeles County is currently grappling with at least five active fires, notably the Palisades Fire, which ballooned from 10 acres to over 17,000 acres in just three days, and the Eaton Fire, now exceeding 10,600 acres east in the San Gabriel Mountains foothills, according to Cal Fire. The root causes of these massive fires remain under investigation, with Cal Fire asserting that the environmental conditions were ripe for ignition. The National Weather Service office in Los Angeles cautioned about low humidity and damaging winds of up to 100 mph in certain areas, fostering monumental blazes with exceptionally intense fire behavior. Luca Carmignani, an assistant professor at San Diego State University and former fire advisor for the Wildland Urban Interface in Southern California, highlighted the heightened fire risk due to the exceedingly dry and gusty Santa Ana winds exacerbating the already parched vegetation. The notorious Santa Ana winds, prevalent during fall and winter, transport dry air from California and Southwest deserts towards the coast. As high-pressure systems move westward over the Santa Ana Mountain range, the wind descends, compresses, and heats up. Janice Coen, a project scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, underscored that these winds desiccate vegetation along mountain ridges, carry embers over large distances, and facilitate rapid fire spread. The current spate of wildfires was likely exacerbated by the preceding extremely dry season, with over 83% of Los Angeles County experiencing drought conditions and minimal rainfall since April. The absence of rain and low humidity have desiccated vegetation, turning it into highly combustible fuel for fires. Heather Zehr, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, noted the transition from wet to dry conditions, potentially influenced by climate change, as a contributing factor to these extreme fire scenarios.
