Is it time for wildfires again in California? Here’s how fuels are looking

The risk of fires across Southern and Central California is growing, as increasingly hot weather dries out fuels following a disappointing rainy season.

Grasses are still green along the coast but have begun to dry to concerning levels farther inland. And that’s a growing concern from the San Fernando Valley all the way up to the Sierra foothills in Merced County.

That’s right on time for this part of the year, said Drew Smith, fire behavior analyst for the L.A. County Fire Department.

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“Once grasses dry and they get brown, they become receptive to fire start and spread,” Smith said.

Multiple fires have broken out in grassy areas in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside counties over the past few days.

Larger fuels are still holding on to a bit of moisture. So although grassy areas may burn hot and fast, the likelihood of a large-scale destructive fire is fairly low for now.

The National Weather Service last week issued and rescinded a fire weather watch for much of the San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra foothills.

Hot weather is expected to persist across much of California for the next few weeks.

The National Interagency Fire Center is projecting an above normal fire risk for swaths of California come June.

Heat affects our water, too

While our reservoirs are looking good, warm and dry conditions this spring have resulted in the snowpack melting faster than normal. Along with below average spring precipitation, water resources across the state could be stressed later in the year.

“The seasonal runoff projections for some watersheds are as low as 70% of average in some cases,” said Andy Reising, manager of snow surveys and the water supply forecasting unit for California’s Department of Water Resources.

Faster than normal snowmelt due to higher temperatures is an issue across the Western U.S., according to a recent analysis by the National Integrated Drought Information System.