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Weather forecasters are predicting that the dry season in Los Angeles is likely to get worse in the coming weeks and that the drought which intensified last week across southern California will continue to worsen into March.
Meteorologist Eric Holthaus has written for the Guardian and says the rain forecast for the next three weeks in Los Angeles means the city’s record-dry start to its rainy season will keep getting worse.
This year’s rainy season is running at just 2% of normal for Los Angeles, which has only seen 0.16in of rain so far.
Weather models increasingly indicate that southern California will receive no rain at all during the rest of January, and potentially no rain during the first week or two of February as well.
That’s really unusual. January and February are the wettest months of the year for Los Angeles, averaging more than 7in of the city’s 13in of rain in a typical year. Even in the winter of 2006-2007, LA’s driest year in history, the city still received a little more than 3in of rain.
Intensifying drought conditions mean that the current round of extremely out-of-season fire weather will continue with the resurgence of any moderate-to-strong Santa Ana winds.
There are emerging signs in longer-range weather models that the current weather pattern could get sticky – and settle into what’s called a blocking pattern. If a blocking pattern, specifically a “Rex block” sets up, it would continue to shunt Pacific moisture either north into Alaska or further south into Mexico, worsening California’s drought.
The Getty Museum is “confident” its art collections will be protected after fears winds could fan flames towards it and put world-famous works, including Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises, at risk.
President and chief executive of the J Paul Getty Trust Katherine Fleming told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We try to be super-responsible stewards of global cultural heritage, and don’t take at all lightly the fact that we’re holding all of these treasures.
“And consequently our facility was built to withstand the various things that this region tends to throw our way, earthquakes and forest fires or brush fires among them. So, yes, we’re certainly not cavalier or cocky, but we are confident.”
Opened in 1997, the Getty Centre hails itself as a “marvel of anti-fire engineering”, with its exterior walls made of travertine and the building reinforced with concrete on the inside, PA Media reports. Fleming said the building also has “very sophisticated air circulation systems” because the main concern is smoke damaging the collection, and sections of the gallery can be isolated if one was to be breached.
Images from the picture agencies have been flooding into wires services across the weekend. Here is a selection:
Los Angeles residents have been speaking to the Guardian’s Kate Mishkin in Brentwood. One, Barbara Fishman, said:
How do you decide what to take after you’ve lived in a house for 28 years and you have all kinds of things that you love and you have to take, you know, suitcases of shit? You just decide, I’ll take this sweatshirt, leave this one. I wear these shoes, I’ll lose those, whatever. I mean, the reality of it doesn’t set in until God forbid, like some of those people, they lost their houses.”
Another, Aaron McNeil, was evacuated with his wife and two kids to a Culver City hotel. On Sunday afternoon, he was allowed to return to his home for more belongings.
We have no idea when they’re going to lift the evacuation. So just since we’re at least allowed in right now … we just grabbed a few more essential stuff. We got our fingers crossed that the winds that are coming tomorrow and through Wednesday, I think, don’t whip it back up to what it was.
On Sunday, LA city Fire Chief Kristin Crowley urged people to stay away from scorched neighborhoods.
“There are still active fires that are burning within the Palisades area, making it extremely, extremely dangerous for the public,” Crowley said during a Sunday morning briefing. “There’s no power, there’s no water, there’s broken gas lines, and we have unstable structures.”
Officials have warned the ash can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials.
We would like to hear from people in the US about the impact of wildfires in and around Los Angeles. Have you been affected by the recent fires? How are you coping? We would like to hear about your experiences.
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After the death toll from the LA wildfires rose to 24 over the weekend, authorities predicted it was likely to rise as sniffer dogs conducted systematic searches in neighborhoods flattened by fire.
Eight deaths have been attributed to the Palisades Fire and 16 to the Eaton Fire, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
The Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone has said 70 additional water trucks have arrived to help firefighters fend off flames spread by renewed gusts. “We are prepared for the upcoming wind event,” Marrone said.
Fire retardant dropped by aircraft will act as a barrier along hillsides, officials said.
Firefighters braced for ‘explosive fire growth’ amid red flag weather warning and new forecast of strong winds
Firefighters across Los Angeles County are bracing for powerful winds to return that could threaten new areas and block efforts to contain existing blazes.
“There will be the potential — especially late Monday night through Wednesday — for explosive fire growth as those winds pick back up,” said the National Weather Service’s Ariel Cohen. “In the case of an evacuation order being issued, you have to follow that immediately. Seconds could save your life.”
The US National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph) and gusts in the mountains reaching 70 mph (113 kph).
The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, warned fire behavior analyst Dennis Burns at a community meeting Sunday night. “It will kind of ebb and flow over the next couple days,” Burns said. “Tomorrow night, it will really ramp up.”
Death toll in California rises to 24 as firefighters brace for more life-threatening winds
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the devastating wildfires that continue to rage in southern California, killing at 24 people people and displacing up to 100,000 from their homes.
The fires, which are burning through an area larger than the area of San Francisco have destroyed thousands of homes, and reduced entire neighbourhood to ash.
Here is the latest on what California governor Gavin Newsom says could be the “most devastating natural disaster in US history”.
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Firefighters are focusing on two of the worst fires in the county: the Palisades fire, which is 11% contained, and the Eaton Fire, which is 27% contained, according to Cal Fire, California’s department of forestry and fire prevention.
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Firefighters have had some success over the weekend, with the Hurst fire now 89% contained having destroyed 799 acres, while a fourth fire, Kenneth, burning just over 1,000 acres before it was brought under control early on Sunday.
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However, officials have warned that the Santa Ana winds could return, with Cal Fire, warning of “critical fire weather” through to Wednesday. In a post on BlueSky, CalFire said: “Life-threatening winds and dangerously low humidity are forecast for much of southern California – from Ventura to San Diego – creating a significant risk of rapid fire spread. The winds will cause increased fire activity.”
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The death toll has risen to 24, according to the Los Angeles medical examiner, although officials acknowledge it is certain to rise. At least another 16 people are missing, according to Los Angeles county sheriff Robert Luna, who said search and rescue efforts were ongoing.
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California governor Gavin Newsom said he will suspend a number of environmental laws to allow rebuilding across southern areas of the state destroyed by the wildfires. He said more than 50 teams of inspectors had been assigned to evaluate the damage, and hoped to complete the work in two weeks.
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At least 20 arrests have been made for looting. Among them were two burglars who posed as firefighters when entering houses, according to the police.
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Rob Bonta, the attorney general of California, has warned against scammers attempting to prey on victims amid the wildfires. Speaking at a press conference, Bonta said: “[In] emergencies like this, in addition to bringing out the best in so many, [it] also brings out bad actors who seek to use the trauma, the chaos of moments like this for their own gain.”
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Schools, except some in mandatory evacuation zones, will reopen on Monday, after closing for all 429,000 students in the Los Angeles unified school district on Thursday and Friday, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho announced. Even still, tens of thousands of people forced from their homes by the enormous fires raking will not be able to return for at least four days, officials said on Sunday.