Rain has come as a relief to exhausted firefighters and worried homeowners focused on California’s major wildfires. But the relief may be short-lived. The 2014 fire season is not over. In recent years, in fact, the season has been starting earlier and going later to the point where it is nearly year-round. And around the West, state officials and climatologists warn that the drought fueling such wildland fires blazing toward and sometime through inhabited areas is likely to persist for months if not years. Across much of California, the latest US Drought Monitor map is red and dark red, showing “extreme” and “exceptional” drought conditions. This weekly map of drought conditions is produced...
↧