Three large wildfires, driven by powerful Santa Ana winds, are burning in Southern California, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate and blanketing Los Angeles in smoke. The Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst fires have already consumed over 5,600 acres as of Wednesday morning, with the blazes continuing to spread rapidly. Officials warn that the dry conditions and strong winds create a dangerous situation, increasing the risk of further fire escalation.
Three large wildfires—driven by ferocious Santa Ana winds—are tearing through Southern California , forcing tens of thousands to flee and shrouding Los Angeles in smoke.
ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captured the above image of the Palisades fire at 10:36 a.m. local time on January 7. Since then—just 24 hours ago—the fire has exploded in size alongside the two aforementioned blazes. Officials warn that the fires are continuing to rapidly spread, in no small part due to a rip-roaring wind event out of the east.Santa Ana winds are east- or north-easterly winds that blow towards the Pacific coast.
“The atmospheric blow dryer is really going to dry things out even further, and because this is going to last several days, the vegetation will become progressively dryer the longer the wind event goes on,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, in a university.
Besides pushing fires one way or another, the winds can blow down trees and power lines, providing more ways for vegetation to ignite and causing power outages in the affected areas.
Wildfires Santa Ana Winds California Evacuations Fire Danger
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