While many Californians are praying for rain heavy enough to slow the spread of the 6,078 fires that have burned 977,932 acres in the state this summer, firefighters and climatologists recognize that the heavy winter rains are a big part of what led this fire season to scorch around three times as much total acreage as in 2023.
After Northern California’s brutal summer of fire, including the massive Park Fire that is now the fourth largest wildfire in state history, Southern California exploded with fires this month. The Line Fire in San Bernardino County northeast of Los Angeles grew to 35,000 acres in the week since it ignited, threatening tens of thousands of homes and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.
While there were 5,053 fires that burned 253,755 acres by September 11 in 2023. By that date this year, about a thousand additional wildfires had collectively burned over 3.85 times more acres. Much of the increase can be attributed to what climatologists are calling “weather whiplash.”
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