Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot | minn gopher - 9/13/2020 07:57
I have zero clue, but any ideas why the western fires have been so much worst the last 5-10 years than before?
It's a combination of things. IMO the biggest thing is how much bigger the wildland/urban interface has become. Last time I flew to San Diego I had a window seat, there's houses everywhere now. Forest management has changed, allowing these fires to get big before they reach the edge of a town. 100 years of fire suppression hasn't been a good thing. Vegetation has changed in a lot of areas, for a whole host of reasons, and usually whatever is moving in happens to be more flammable. Then, there has undeniably been some unusual weather. I read up this last winter on the CA fires of the last few years, and they did have unprecedented winds many times, with unusually hot and dry.
The OR/WA fires right now started with an east wind that blew for days. I've lived here for most of my life, and we never see east winds like that. East winds are blowing dry air right off of the desert, single digit humidity with a 30 mph wind is bad, and it's just a matter of time before you get a spark and things burn. |
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