Historic California Wildfires

[Warren Faidley]

Starting a thread concerning the historic wildfires near Los Angeles.

I was there last week January 7-8-9.

Cannot remember a more volatile and active season ever, including some big events in 2024 that received little attention. Santa Ana events are usually sporadic, not consistent. The politics of draining public funds for things other than disaster preps is obvious. Just ask any firefighter.

Going by the latest runs of the GFS and ECMWF (1-14-25) there seems to be potential for another PDS high wind event early next week. (1-21/22-2025).

I'll likely go back to shooting wildfires since the LA region authorities allow media access (unlike the royal fucksters in AZ). There are also fewer "chasers" in the mix. The problem of course is selling material, but I can always do volunteer work when I am there.

Warren

 

[Jamie H]

A good analysis by Trey here:

The UK Met Office also dove into it (skip to 13:50 if it doesn't automatically do it):

 

[William Monfredo]

Obviously, a complex mix between society and Mother Nature lately, but I wanted to recommend a book that I read from Univ. of CA Press.
Chapters:
Part I. Floods and Droughts in Living Memory
1. From Drought to Deluge: “Normal” Climate in the West
2. The 1861–1862 Floods: Lessons Lost
3. The Great Droughts of the Twentieth Century
4. Why Is Climate So Variable in the West?

Part II. A Climate History of the American West
5. Reading the Past: The Earth’s History Books
6. From Ice to Fire: Into the Holocene
7. The “Long Drought” of the Mid-Holocene
8. Ice Returns: The Neoglaciation
9. The Great “Medieval Drought”
10. The Little Ice Age: Megafloods and Climate Swings
11. Why Climate Changes: Cycles and Oscillations

Part III. A Growing Water Crisis
12. The Hydraulic Era: Salmon and Dams
13. Future Climate Change and the American West
14. What the Past Tells Us about Tomorrow

And it's editor's pick in non-fiction on Amazon. Well, I hope so, the non-fiction part !

 

[Warren Faidley]

The Trans American water pipeline will fix all this. Coming in 2050.

 

[Blake Naftel]

Starting a thread concerning the historic wildfires near Los Angeles.

I was there last week January 7-8-9.

Cannot remember a more volatile and active season ever, including some big events in 2024 that received little attention. Santa Ana events are usually sporadic, not consistent. The politics of draining public funds for things other than disaster preps is obvious. Just ask any firefighter.

Going by the latest runs of the GFS and ECMWF (1-14-25) there seems to be potential for another PDS high wind event early next week. (1-21/22-2025).

I'll likely go back to shooting wildfires since the LA region authorities allow media access (unlike the royal fucksters in AZ). There are also fewer "chasers" in the mix. The problem of course is selling material, but I can always do volunteer work when I am there.

Warren

Warren,

The adage that a picture speaks a thousand words still holds true. Your photojournalism of the wildfire disaster that unfolded and continues in the Los Angeles region was humbling to view. I was familiar with a few of the areas you featured. Having covered a few significant wildfires in the past five years, it's the still photography is really what paints a broader picture for those of us who may see a flutter of imagery scroll past on social or traditional news media.

The closing monochrome photo reminded me somewhat of the attached black and white tornado image from 11 April 1965 published in the South Bend Tribune, not the Paul Huffman tornado sequence from the Elkhart Truth, as a violent tornado moved northeast after a prior tornado had leveled the Midway trailer court in Dunlap, Indiana.

Thank you for sharing your montage. Be safe!

Blake



BLAKE WILLIAM NAFTEL
Artist, Comedy Writer, Meteorologist

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