![]() When winds are paired with hot, dry weather, they pose a major fire hazard. A recent report by the US Drought Monitor found more than 97% of the state is in severe or extreme drought, causing concern for the year ahead. ![]() Likewise, ongoing droughts in California pose a serious threat for fire season. Drought leaves trees, grasses, shrubs, and soil with very little moisture, making the landscape extremely flammable. Since wildfire thrives in hot and dry climates, drought elevates fire risk significantly. However, the impacts of climate change mean that fall precipitation is often delayed, which can keep fires burning throughout the winter months. The fire season in California tends to end once the state receives heavy rainfall. 1 When Does the California Fire Season End? However, recent data show that, due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall, the season is beginning earlier and ending later each year, approaching a year-round fire season. The length of the fire season in any given year in California depends on summer temperatures, rainfall, and wind, with the most fires historically occurring between May and October. This explosive effect is due to a combination of dry vegetation from hot summer weather, and intense dry winds that blow through the state during fall. While there may be fewer fires in September and October, the fires that do occur are far more destructive and burn through many more acres. It is a common misconception that the most dangerous time for fires in California is during July and August. However, the Southern California peak fire season starts earlier, beginning in late spring (May-June) and runs until October. When is the California Fire Season?įires are possible throughout the year in California, but the peak fire season in Northern California usually begins in June or July and runs through late October or November. The California fire season gets longer every year due to the climate crisis. In this guide, the Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA) answers common questions about the California fire season, including how long it lasts, its risk factors, and more. Berry Creek, California.Everything You Need to Know About the California Fire Season Sixteen lives were lost, and more than 3,500 homes and businesses were destroyed, including most of the town of Berry Creek. These megafires affected communities up and down the Sierra Nevada. The Creek and SQF Complex Fires also burned large landscapes at high-severity in mixed conifer forests. The North Complex Fire was one of three megafires in the Sierra Nevada in 2020. The North Complex Fire did not burn like historical fires-it burned a single high-severity landscape. Historically, fires burned small areas (“patches”) at high-severity that were mixed among other small patches of low and moderate severity. (Note: the average area burned is based on a healthy, historical fire regime that predated European settlement). ![]() This one fire’s high-severity burn area is four times larger than the average area burned at high severity from all Sierra Nevada fires during an entire year. The North Complex Fire’s high-severity burn landscape is unlike anything the Sierra Nevada has experienced. North Complex Fire Quadruples Yearly Historical Average The 2020 North Complex Fire, near Lake Oroville, burned over 170,000 acres at high severity. North Complex Fire overlayed on Los Angeles The amount, size, and arrangement of high-severity fire in the region appears to be unlike anything the region has experienced in the past. Instead, the intensity with which these large 2020 fires burned created high-severity burn landscapes. This vocabulary is inadequate to describe what transpired in 2020. The scientific literature describing fire regimes in the Sierra Nevada’s mixed conifer forests refers to high-severity burn patches, relatively small areas within a mosaic of fire effects where all, or nearly all, vegetation is killed. Historically, hundreds of thousands of acres burned in the Sierra Nevada in a normal year, but they were spread across the landscape in many smaller fires, not concentrated in a few megafires like in 2020. ![]() The Creek, North Complex, and SQF fires were three of the five largest Sierra Nevada fires in the last 100 years, and each fire left behind large areas where all, or nearly all, vegetation was killed. Although the amount of fire grabs headlines, more concerning is the type and distribution of these fires. ![]() A record-breaking year in 3 firesĪlmost one million acres burned in the Sierra Nevada in 2020, which is more than double the previous record set in 2018. The amount, size, and arrangement of high-severity fire in 2020 appears to be unlike anything the region has experienced in the past. Nearly half of the 2020 Creek Fire, the largest in the modern history of the Sierra Nevada, burned at high severity. ![]()
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