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Exploring the beautiful nature of California


California Nature: California Wildfires


Fire season is year-round in Southern California, but it peaks from April or May to October or November, and sometimes through January. Every fire season is different. There are a lot of different factors that play a part in why a fire season might be quiet or severe. Rainfall and snow can help keep plants from dying, while keeping the soil moist. Onshore flows can keep the Inland area cooler and more humid  through early August and may prevent monsoonal storms from building over California deserts, eliminating many lightning storms that spark fires. One of the biggest factors in Southern California wildfires is the Santa Ana Winds.

Named after Southern California's Santa Ana Canyon, the Santa Ana is a blustery, dry and often hot wind that blows out of the desert. Local legends associate the hot, dry winds with homicides and earthquakes, but these are myths.

Santa Ana winds are a fact of life in Southern California in the fall and winter. Bringing hot temperatures, low humidity and strong winds at the end of the dry season, the Santa Ana winds increase wildfire danger and have inspired cultural references from literature to music.
The Santa Ana winds are a major factor in California wildfires  While the Santa Ana winds may occur anytime between September and March, the ones in October are most infamous, as this is also the peak of fire season. Many of Southern California’s most devastating wildfires have been exacerbated by Santa Ana winds, especially during times of drought when the coastal scrubland or chaparral is brittle dry. These furious and sometimes deadly force winds move from the East to the West across the state of California.

Beginning with a pocket of high pressure air, the wind moves through the states of Nevada, Utah and Arizona pushing the air up, up and up and then over The San Gabriel Mountains. This air then accelerates down the west side of The San Gabriel Mountains, gaining tremendous speed as it goes through the canyons often reaching tropical storm force winds.

Although the Santa Ana winds originate as colder air over the high desert, they arrive in Southern California as hot air because of the difference in elevation. Air temperature is strongly correlated to elevation, and if there was not a dramatic difference in elevation between the Great Basin and the Los Angeles Basin, the Santa Ana winds would reach Southern California as cool winds. When air drops in elevation, however, it becomes compressed and warmer. This is called adiabatic warming.
Santa Ana winds are usually dry winds, which further exacerbates the potential danger of wildfires. As the air descends and warms due to compression, its relative humidity decreases. Relative humidity can drop below 10% during a Santa Ana wind event. Because of the low relative humidity, this hot, fast-moving air can literally strip already dry vegetation of whatever little moisture it may have, further increasing fire danger.

Southern California forecasters typically issue a red flag warning in advance of a Santa Ana Wind event. The red flag warning generally covers the mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, the Santa Monica Mountains, and the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. According to the National Weather Service, a red flag warning means that “critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly.”
California wildfires are a fact of nature especially in the fall Sporadic fires are normal throughout California in the summer and fall as temperatures rise and rainfall drops, causing vegetation to die off and provide fuel for combustion. In Southern California, the normal wildfire season begins in October with the arrival of the infamous Santa Ana winds, and it is unusual to see fires spread rapidly at other times of year. During the height of California wildfires public health officials recommend that outdoor activities should be limited and people with respiratory conditions remain inside.

Wildfire impacts to wildlife range from positive to negative based on a number of wildfire and environmental characteristics. In California, many biological communities are adapted to fire. These include conifer forests, oak woodlands, chaparral shrublands and native grasslands. Fire is part of the ecosystems that animals inhabit and animals respond accordingly.

Although fire is a very necessary element to healthy wildlife habitats, fire can be devastating to individual animals. Most animals will get out of harms way, but some might not be so fortunate.
It is when fires occur too frequently or burn rapidly that wildlife are most impacted. Rapidly burning fires give wildlife less time to react in fleeing or taking shelter. The smoke, heat and flames of fast-moving fire fronts are more likely to kill wildlife than slower-moving fire. If orphaned or injured wildlife is found the best thing to do is let “mother nature” take its course. If intervention is absolutely necessary the public should notify a licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility or DFG directly.

After a fire, wildlife may be temporarily displaced from previous habitats. This displacement may be short-lived, just until surviving plants regrow and seeds sprout. But displacement may take longer, requiring some years before the right habitat exists for a particular animal species. Which animals are able to take advantage of the new habitat depends on the severity, complexity and extent of the wildfire. Although some animals may leave a burned area, many others will utilize the newly burned area extensively.
 
 
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