California Fires Give Way to Rain, Then Possible Mudslides
While the eastern half of the United States has been dealing with winter-like weather over the past week, California has been dealing with a very different problem. Wildfires have ravaged large portions of the state during November. The largest of which is the Camp Fire in northern California, which as of Tuesday morning has charred 151,000 acres of land, and has destroyed 11,700 homes. Tragically, the Camp Fire has become the deadliest wildfire in California history, having taken the lives of 79 people.
Source: NBC News
Meanwhile, in southern California, the Woosley Fire has burned through over 96,00 acres and has destroyed about 1,500 buildings. Unfortunately, this fire too has been deadly, claiming the lives of three people. As of Tuesday morning, this fire is 94% contained and expected to be 100% contained by Thursday.
Fortunately, for areas still being ravaged by the fires, relief is on the way. A series of low pressure systems from the Pacific Ocean will bring rain and mountain snow to most if not all of California beginning Wednesday and into Thanksgiving Day. This will be the first rainfall for parts of California since last winter. However, since a large amount of vegetation has been burned from the fires, the risk of mudslides will be elevated with the incoming rainfall, which would only add more misery to the region.
