California Fires, Texas Snow: Another Oddball Week

Amarillo, Texas got its first snowfall of the season yesterday, before
we in Vermont have gotten anything substantial

So far this week, I've talked about, among other things, wildfires in California and the prospects for snow, or lack thereof in the near future here in Vermont.

Today, the news is still full of wildfires and snow.

I'll start with the less disastrous stuff first.  Texas and Oklahoma have managed to get a bunch of snow before we here in Vermont have gotten any.  Yes, it's snowed on the peaks of the Green Mountains, but most of us Vermonters have not seen anything yet.  

Boy, the Texas Panhandle sure did, though. Amarillo, Texas picked up 2.6 inches of snow. It occasionally fell heavily, with thunder and lightning, winds gusting past 40 mph and occasional near whiteout conditions. A town in far western Oklahoma reportedly picked up nine inches.

Snow in the Texas Panhandles is of course rare this time of year, but not unheard of. As CNN reports, Amarillo once got measureable snow as early as September 29, 1984. The earliest one inch or greater snow there was on October 15, 1970.

Amarillo sits at about 3,600 feet in elevation. So somewhat like mile-high Denver, Colorado, it is often hot and dry, but under certain conditions the relatively high elevation can bring enough cold for seemingly out of season snows.

CALIFORNIA FIRES

People fleeing through fire and live ashes during wildfires
in northern California on Thursday.

The big news is how things are going from bad to worse in California. A fast-spreading blaze broke out in the hills above the California wine country, north of San Francisco late Wednesday or early Thursday.

That fire has destroyed an as yet undetermined number of homes. KQED says CalFire is estimating 49 structures lost so far. About 2,000 people have been evacuated.

Winds have temporarily died down in northern California, but the worst is yet to come. Over the weekend, extremely strong winds and low humidity will make for a critical fire risk.  Winds could gust to over 45 mph in the valleys and 75 mph in the mountains.   This is certainly a recipe for disaster.  The conditions will be similar to 2017, when a wildfire chewed through a large section of Santa Rosa, California.  
 
Pacific Gas & Electric, which cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses to help prevent fires from falling power lines, plans to do so again on a larger scale this weekend. The thought is if the wind breaks power lines, they won't cause fires because no electricity will be flowing.

In southern California, another fire, called the Tick Fire, is burning through canyons north of Los Angeles. It kept spreading early this morning amid gusty winds and jumped the 14 Freeway, prompting more evacuations. Several buildings have burned and the fire is far from contained.

The chances of high winds this weekend are slightly less in southern California than in northern parts of the state, but the risk is still real.  It's turning out to be another ugly fire season in California.