why california wildfires are spreading so fast - will goodell

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/09/us/wildfires-why-they-spread-so-quickly-wcx/index.html




    currently three wildfires are burning through cailifornia leaving over 20,000 acres scorched in a 14 hour time period on thursday.  the fire in los angeles and ventura county nearly doubled that by friday evening making it over 35,000 acres burnt and still counting. the reason for the vast amounts of fires that have happened recently is due to major offshore winds and extremely low humidity that makes it perfect weather for an already fire-prone environment. in southern california, santa ana winds can get up to 50-70 mph and travel down to surrounding counties where the fires are happening.  california is also still recovering from a big drought that makes for lots of dry vegetation for the fire to burn. in the past month, most of the state has received less than 5 % the normal amount of rainfall, while the drought is worse in 18% of the state, including the ares surrounding the woolsey fire. the terrain in northern and southern california also makes it harder for firefirghters to navigate, with many hills and valleys the winds become more harsh and less accescible for fire trucks or for firefighters to access.