Record heat and dry winds fuel wildfire - California. by Steph Ball
Much of southern California remained under a “red flag” alert yesterday as firefighters in the Anaheim Hills, Orange County struggled to gain control of a wildfire which has burnt through more than 2000 acres of scrub.
The fire started on Sunday fuelled by a day of scorching heat which saw temperatures across many parts of California rising into the 30C’s (90F’s). Several areas set new records for the date, with Fullerton the hottest reaching 36C (97F), easily smashing its old record of 29C (84F) set in 1959.
Hot, dry Santa Ana winds also helped to stoke up the flames as the fire raged about 35 miles to the southeast of Los Angeles. The scrubland or chaparral made all the more flammable by a lack of rain in recent months and what could be shaping up to be one of the driest years yet across southern California.
Only about 61mm (2.4 inches) of rain has fallen in downtown Los Angeles since the beginning of July 2006. The normal annual rainfall in Los Angeles is 290mm (11.43 inches).
Yesterday as firefighters continued to tackle the blaze, temperatures again breached records, rising to 32C (90F) in Los Angeles. The old record was 31C (87F) set in 1959.
The National Weather Service reported that conditions could improve today and over the next few days with the return of onshore winds bringing the temperatures perhaps down as much as 10 degrees in some areas.
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