How the latest Sierra storm impacts wildfire risk in Northern California

SODA SPRINGS — Opening day at a number of ski resorts in the Sierra got here per week early: Boreal, Heavenly, and Kirkwood welcomed skiers and snowboarders to the mountain on Veteran’s Day as a consequence of the greater than two ft of snow that fell in components of the Sierra. 

Fuels, which have been traditionally dry in the Sierra and elevated the risk for wildfire hazard, are moist from rain and snow. It’s a aid for CalFire crews, at the least for now, as a result of as moisture ranges go up the risk of fireplace hazard goes down. 

“Trust me, it’s a welcome relief for the fire season, but much like last year we saw heavy precipitation in December, the non-fire season times of the year have become less predictable,” mentioned CalFire Unit Chief Brian Estes. 

Estes mentioned that the snow and rain decrease fireplace risk now, nevertheless it’s not assured to final into February. 

“We still don’t know what the months to come are going to look like, with the number of fuel types we have, two months of dry weather we’ll see the propensity for wildfires to burn into the winter,” mentioned Estes. 

He defined the risk for wildfire, in California, would not disappear at any time of yr as a consequence of the kind of gas varieties throughout the jurisdiction. 

“The key thing for whether there’s fire danger or not, is how dry are fuels, this storm really wet them down a lot,” mentioned Andrew Latimer a Professor at UC Davis. 

The National Interagency Fire Center put out a predictive outlook Friday that reported the cool and moist climate over the previous two weeks has “significantly mitigated flammable fuel alignments across the region” and meaning, “little to no significant fire risk exists.” 

The outlook covers November 10-17 and covers Northern California, together with the foothills and Sacramento Valley. The similar outlook discovered that in the Greater Bay Area and the Sacramento Valley a “few spotty locations” could expertise a “little higher” fireplace hazard till ample green-up can happen. Likely, nevertheless, this may probably be restricted to “strong/dry wind periods that happen to occur the next few weeks.” 

Latimer mentioned it would take a number of precipitation occasions, like snow and rain, to place a dent in the statewide drought. The greater than two ft of snow in the Sierra that fell this week, he famous, was a welcome first step and begin. 

Madisen Keavy

Madisen stories weekdays on CBS13.