CNN
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Firefighters in Northern California
battled more than a thousand wildfires to a stalemate by Sunday, but
forecasters said dangerous conditions would not relent anytime soon.
Haze from a wildfire covers a scenic view of the Pacific coastline
along Highway 1.
No new major fires had broken out by Sunday morning as fire crews
inched closer to getting some of the largest blazes surrounded,
according to the state Office of Emergency Services.
But a "red flag warning" -- meaning the most extreme fire danger --
was still in effect for Northern California until 5 a.m. Monday. And
the coming days and months are expected to bring little relief.
Forecasters predicted more thunderstorms and dry lightning through the
weekend, similar to the ones that ignited hundreds of fires a week
ago.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Forest Service re****t said the weather would get
even drier and hotter as fire season headed toward its traditional
peak in late July and August.
Lower-than-average rainfall and record levels of parched vegetation
likely mean a long, fiery summer throughout Northern California,
according to the Forest Service's state fire outlook released last
week.
The fires burning now could take weeks or months to bring under full
control, the re****t said.
- - - - -
"Months" ...
Dunno if it's 'global warming' or what, but it looks as if
most of California is headed towards being a total desert.
Tiny rains, huge widespread fires ... soon there will be
wide gaps in the forest. Reseach in the rainforests shows
that when you 'open a hole' in a forest the hole tends
to SPREAD ... it creates a hot, low-humidity zone downwind
for miles (MANY miles, depending on the size of the 'hole').
This pocket of drier air reduces rainfall and speeds
drying - killing trees and veggies - thus enlarging
itself. Only a period of prolonged rainfall can seal
the 'hole'. Forest begets forest, plains beget plains.
Ain't gonna BE no forest in SoCal/CenCal anymore. Rain,
when/if it DOES come = MUD, not trees. Bye-bye topsoil.
Now NORTHERN California north thru British Columbia, that
area has been recieving far MORE rain than usual. This
pattern also seems likely to persist. Warm/cool areas in
the Pacific are steering the jet stream - and massive
storms - over this area for the past few years.
The steering forces seem well-entrenched for now and
may be "permanent". Hurricane+ winds and rains have
relentlessly blasted NCal->BC during the fall, winter
and spring ... a pattern likely to repeat and repeat.
MINOR issue ... the good FARMING land is in central/south
California. Gale winds, flooding rains and cold temps are
NOT condusive to farming in the hills dontchaknow.
So, as SoCal and our entire southwest gets drier, we're
faced with a huge and im****tant project - switching the
irrigation system for the farmlands. The Colorado river
is likely to become increasing unreliable, and water
demand will increase due to hotter and drier weather
in SoCal. Alternatives are needed lest those big fertile
valleys turn to desert.
That means a big irrigation project - bringing water
from the saturated north down to So/CenCal. It will
cost many, Many, MANY billons of dollars and take a
decade at least, but unless we want a major source
of FOOD to literally dry up and blow away ....
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