How wind-driven wildfires stormed the Los Angeles area.
Here's why the area had intense mountain waves to stoke the fires.
Jon Keeley, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and adjunct professor at UCLA, explained via UCLA’s The Conversation what causes extreme winds like this in Southern California, and why they create such fire risk.
Have the Santa Ana winds changed over time?
“My colleagues and I recently published a paper comparing 71 years of Santa Ana wind events, starting in 1948. We found about the same amount of overall Santa Ana wind activity, but the timing is shifting from fewer events in September and more in December and January. Due to well-documented trends in climate change, it is tempting to ascribe this to global warming, but as yet there is no substantial evidence of this.
“California is seeing more destructive fires than we saw in the past. That’s driven not just by changes in the climate and the winds, but also by population growth.
“More people now live in and at the edges of wildland areas, and the power grid has expanded with them. That creates more opportunities for fires to start. In extreme weather, power lines face a higher risk of falling or being hit by tree branches and sparking a fire.”
More:
https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2025/01/12/how-wind-driven-wildfires-stormed-the-la-area/
36-40, F
