Yesterday when I heard that Los Angeles is going into a heat wave this week, with potential record-breaking temperatures and winds, I thought: Where will evacuees escape to given many recreation centers now house the homeless? And what about those friends in the past I stayed with during an evacuation but now we're social distancing.
To get insight into Southern California 2020 fire season, I went to the web site of National Interactive Fire Center. This is where U.S. meteorologists focus on fire conditions and share their predictions for sections of our country based on models for drought, weather, and temperatures.
To hear the April 15, 2020 NIFC summary about west coast fire weather predictions and conditions click here.
The good news: According to Bureau of Land Management meteorologist, Bryan Henry, Southern California had 800% above normal rainfall recently. There is moisture in the ground and despite an incoming heat wave, humidity is not too low. June will be the peak of fire season in the Southwest but probably not as bad as in the past. On the other hand, it's too soon to predict our fall, which is usually when our worst fires occur due to dry brush - of which we have much due to that magnificent rain - and those dreadful Santa Ana winds.
Another region I focus on, where my family lives, Northern California may get significant fires in July and August.
With coronavirus increasing in California, particularly in Los Angeles county, I wonder how the fire department will handle fighting fires and dealing with evacuees. As I type, Governor Newsom is giving his update to our Covid response. His team created a volunteer web site to ensure every able Californian can volunteer where they can. Maybe this will include people dealing with our potential fire issues - like trimming trees, reminding neighbors to clear the areas around their homes and roofs, figuring out where fire evacuees will go if we're still in a stay at home coronavirus situation. Maybe I'm helping now by putting out a reminder not to let down our guard despite everything else we are adjusting to.
The governor just said California experienced another increase in coronavirus cases, 5% increase in deaths since yesterday, 3.3% increase in hospitalizations throughout state of California. We're up to 14,000+ tests per day now. Wants to get up to 25,000 tests a day by month's end.
The good news is we've had a lot of rain and people are helping one another like never before. And Californians with Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti, have outstanding leadership.
"Lift someone's heart," says Governor Newsom, "Check out the web site Californians for All."
Think I will do that, and then walk in Los Angeles clean air.
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