Off The Rails. Wildfires Still Loom In California During "Wet" Season

Wildfire burns in southern California last week. This
is normally a wetter time of year in this state, and
winter wildfires used to be rare. Not anymore. 

 It's happening again.  

Once again in the normally wet California month of January, they're worried about wildfires again. 

The winter rains have largely failed to materialize so far.

This week, an actual storm is forming near California.  Too bad it's in a weird place south and east of California - in Mexico and eventually into Arizona and Mexico.

The storm, and high pressure north of it, will create lots of wind early this week in California. Which means the threat of more fires. Which is really weird or January.

The hills could easily come alive with blazes in and around Los Angeles as the winds ramp up today and tomorrow. Even more remarkably, there's a fire danger all the way up into places just east of San Francisco and near Sacramento.

This part of central California is normally pretty sodden this time of year.  Not this year. San Francisco has only had a half inch of rain so far this month. At this point in January, they should be closing on 2.5 inches for the month. Sacramento, California has only scraped together a quarter inch of rain so far this month, against a normal of two inches by now. 

So, we could see the probably unprecedented spectacle of a wildfire in or near California wine country in January.  Though not as likely as fires in southern California, it's possible. Red flag warnings for fire risk are already in effect for parts of  central California. 

Winter wildfires are becoming a thing in California after being exceedingly rare, historically.  Climate change seems to be contributing to historic droughts and winter heat.  Another bout of record heat hit parts of southern California over the weekend.

Even without the fires, the wind is likely to cause some damage in California. 

Tonight and tomorrow, winds could gust as high as 90 mph in the mountains east of Los Angeles and as high as 65 mph near the coast. That'll be enough to toss down trees and power lines, an even cause structural damage.

Further north, the Sierra Nevada range and surrounding areas are in for a big blow as well.  The wind is expected to stir up three to six foot waves on Lake Tahoe, which would damage shoreline property. 

Toward the end of the week, a little rain might finally fall across most of California, but amounts look pretty unimpressive.  One glimmer of hope is the forecast of some above normal rainfall there at the very end of the month.

I'm sure everyone out there is hoping for that!