When Forecasts Unfortunately Come True: Destructive California Wildfires, And Trouble In The East

Unfortunately, as expected, destructive wildfires
broke out in southern California Wednesday and
they continued today. 

The worst fears were realized in southern California Wednesday when an explosive wildfire blasted through Camarillo, California, destroying dozens of homes. 

Wildfires had been predicted, as strong Santa Ana winds propelled 60 mph gusts through canyons and dropped humidity levels to rock bottom levels.

It was a scene of chaos in Camarillo, as the fire hopscotched through neighborhood after neighborhood. Embers flying in the gales would set some houses on fire, while others next door remained unscathed.

Given the chaotic evacuations from the rapidly advancing fire.  The fire was moving so fast that crews had to rush people into fire engines to get them away from the blaze.  Fire victims said they had to flee so hastily that they didn't even have time to grab medication and important papers.

I'm surprised that so far, we have reports of only two injuries among residents. Both had smoke inhalation, and were taken to hospitals where they are expected to recover. 

In all, 14,000 people have been evacuated because of the wildfire.

During a Thursday morning aerial survey, KABC reporter Scott Reiff said he counted 83 homes destroyed by the fire. He might have missed some, and others might have been destroyed after he took his inventory. 

 At last report, 24 hours after the fire started, it was still listed as zero percent contained. 

Santa Ana winds are still gusty today, though not as intense as they were on Thursday. The humidity is still really low, too, so fires are spreading readily. The danger is expected to taper off some on Friday and weak, moist onshore winds are expected in southern California over the weekend and early next week.

The light winds and higher humidity should help firefighters make some gains against the wildfires. However, more strong, dry Santa Ana winds are possible next Wednesday and Thursday. 

EAST

Fires continued to burn in the eastern United States, too, but obviously not as severely as in California. 

One of the worst fires is in Jackson Township, New Jersey. The fire forced the evacuation of 25 threatened homes, but firefighters managed to protect the houses and the residents were allowed to move back in Wednesday night. 

Another wildfire broke out Thursday in a Philadelphia suburb and at last report it was threatening about 50 homes. 

Another wildfire burned for a fourth day near Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania. 

The wildfire risk is forecast to actually increase some Friday in a band from Maryland and Pennsylvania up into Connecticut and Massachusetts. 

Videos: 

News update from the morning after today. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that. 

Next video has mostly aerial views that give you a sense of how widespread the destruction is. Again, click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that:

 

Remarkable California Wind Sets Odd Wildfire, Causes Other Damage

Wildfire burns near a bridge in Big Sur, California as
strong winds stirred up fire conditions despite drought-
denting rains last month. 

 Probably the worst Santa Ana winds in California caused widespread damage over the past couple of days and set a very out of season wildfire in Big Sur. that is still burning today. 

The fire just inland from the central California coast closed part of iconic Route 1 and prompted evacuations. It is quite odd to have a wildfire in this part of California in January - the peak of what is normally the wet season. 

California did get some big rains and snows in December, which has led to wetter ground conditions, but hasn't fully erased the state's drought. There's been no precipitation around Big Sur since around January 3-4, and the strong winds were enough to set the blaze in motion. off the blaze,

"Anecdotally, it seems as the long-term drought is acting like a chronic illness where even recent rains and cold winter weather isn't helping to keep fires from developing," the National Weather Service office in the San Francisco said in a Twitter statement. 

California needs a LOT more precipitation to get to where they want to be. There's still not much rain in the forecast. They'd better hurry up and get some storms.  Rainy season for most of the state ends with a couple months. 

Huge tree down in Altadena, California due to ferocious
Santa Ana winds this past weekend. Photo via Twitter
from @edgarmcgregor 

Elsewhere in California, the high winds caused widespread damage from the San Francisco Bay Arae all the way down to the San Diego area.  

Peak wind gusts included 96 mph near Healdsburg Hills, 89 mph outside of Los Angeles near Mount Lukens Truck Trail with similar gusts near Fremont Canyon. In the Sierra Nevada, a gust of 141 mph was clocked in Kirkwood.  

Numerous homes, cars and other buildings in California were hit by falling trees. In Ontario, California, a large tree crushed a duplex, and residents had to climb through back windows to escape.

Winds were dying down today, so the worst is over.