Tragic California Fires Might Worsen Again As Winds Rise, Humidity Crashes

A Santa Rosa, California neighborhood reduced
to ashes by this week's epic wildfires.

Light winds and higher humidity slowed the epic California wildfires on Tuesday, but the wind is going to pick up again today and the humidity will sink, leading to fears the fires will claim more lives and houses.

Already, the death toll in the fires has risen to 17, and at least 2,000 buildings have been destroyed.

Reports are that 150 people are missing, but thankfully, most of those people are believed to be alive. The fires cut cell phone service in many areas, and there's probably people out there who are unable to call loved ones as a result.

One of the saddest cases involved a 100 year old man and his 98 year old wife who just celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. The couple were unable to flee in time and died in the fires.

Today into tomorrow, winds won't be as strong as they were during the firestorms Sunday night, but still, the winds will range from 20 to 30 miles, with local gusts to 50 mph across much of northern California. That's enough to make fires spread super fast, especially since the relative humidity will drop to around 10 to 20 percent.

On Sunday night, wind gusts were in the 50 to 70 mph range. Those winds propelled one fire 16 miles in just six hours. Given that, you can see why it was hard to evacuate in time, and how easy it was for the fires to overtake entire neighborhoods, despite heroic efforts by firefighters.

October is the peak of wildfire season in California, since the month comes at the tail end of a long, dry summer, giving vegetation a long chance to dry out. But these fires were much worse because of the extreme winds.

The heavy rains of last winter that create lush vegetation that dried out in the summer, creating extra fuels. On top of that, some trees died in the drought that ended last fall, so those dead trees created more trouble.

The threat will only ease when the normal winter rains start invading California later this fall. These winter rains start in the Pacific Northwest about now and slowly work their way south into southern California by the end of the year.

There are signs some light rain might fall in far northern California in a week or two, but the fall and winter rains don't yet show any signs of beginning in earnest.

Here's a video from inside a car as people flee a burning neighborhood:




Drone footage of the devastation in Santa Rosa, California. Notice some houses are unscathed next to some that are leveled: