The Monk
07-12-2021, 04:24 AM
Our sympathies and best wishes go our to these firefighters and people - As Aussies, this is something that is all to real and all to frightening to those affected..
https://i.imgur.com/dIi8xPN.jpg
Firefighters in California are battling record high temperatures and ferocious winds
Firefighters have struggled to contain an exploding northern California wildfire under blazing temperatures as another heat wave hits the US west, prompting an excessive heat warning for inland and desert areas.
Firefighters in some areas said the air was so dry, water dropped from planes evaporated before reaching the ground.
Death Valley National Park in California recorded a staggering high of 54C on Friday and could reach the same high at the weekend.
If verified, the reading would be the hottest high recorded there since July 1913, when the same Furnace Creek desert area hit 57C, considered the highest reliably measured temperature on earth.
The Beckwourth Complex — two lightning-caused fires burning 70km north of Lake Tahoe — showed no sign of slowing its rush north-east from the Sierra Nevada forest region after doubling in size between Friday and Saturday.
California’s northern mountain areas already have had big fires that have destroyed more than a dozen homes.
The fire prompted evacuation orders or warnings for about 2800 people along with the closure of almost 520sqkm of Plumas National Forest.
Hot rising air formed a smoky pyrocumulus cloud that reached hundreds of metres high and created its own lightning on Friday, fire information officer Lisa Cox said.
Spot fires caused by embers leapt up more than a kilometre ahead of the north-eastern flank and winds funnelled the fire up draws and canyons full of dry fuel, Ms Cox said.
The blaze, which was only 8 per cent contained, increased dramatically to more than 220sqkm after fire officials made better observations.
It was one of several threatening homes across western States that are expecting scorching temperatures through the weekend as a high-pressure zone blankets the region.
Pushed by strong winds, the Oregon fire doubled in size to more than 300sqkm on Saturday in the Fremont-Winema National Forest.
Las Vegas late on Saturday afternoon tied the record high of 47C, the National Weather Service said.
In southern California, a brush fire sparked by a burning truck in San Diego County forced evacuations of two Native American reservations.
A wildfire in south-east Washington grew to more than 150sqkm as it moved into the Umatilla National Forest.
https://i.imgur.com/dIi8xPN.jpg
Firefighters in California are battling record high temperatures and ferocious winds
Firefighters have struggled to contain an exploding northern California wildfire under blazing temperatures as another heat wave hits the US west, prompting an excessive heat warning for inland and desert areas.
Firefighters in some areas said the air was so dry, water dropped from planes evaporated before reaching the ground.
Death Valley National Park in California recorded a staggering high of 54C on Friday and could reach the same high at the weekend.
If verified, the reading would be the hottest high recorded there since July 1913, when the same Furnace Creek desert area hit 57C, considered the highest reliably measured temperature on earth.
The Beckwourth Complex — two lightning-caused fires burning 70km north of Lake Tahoe — showed no sign of slowing its rush north-east from the Sierra Nevada forest region after doubling in size between Friday and Saturday.
California’s northern mountain areas already have had big fires that have destroyed more than a dozen homes.
The fire prompted evacuation orders or warnings for about 2800 people along with the closure of almost 520sqkm of Plumas National Forest.
Hot rising air formed a smoky pyrocumulus cloud that reached hundreds of metres high and created its own lightning on Friday, fire information officer Lisa Cox said.
Spot fires caused by embers leapt up more than a kilometre ahead of the north-eastern flank and winds funnelled the fire up draws and canyons full of dry fuel, Ms Cox said.
The blaze, which was only 8 per cent contained, increased dramatically to more than 220sqkm after fire officials made better observations.
It was one of several threatening homes across western States that are expecting scorching temperatures through the weekend as a high-pressure zone blankets the region.
Pushed by strong winds, the Oregon fire doubled in size to more than 300sqkm on Saturday in the Fremont-Winema National Forest.
Las Vegas late on Saturday afternoon tied the record high of 47C, the National Weather Service said.
In southern California, a brush fire sparked by a burning truck in San Diego County forced evacuations of two Native American reservations.
A wildfire in south-east Washington grew to more than 150sqkm as it moved into the Umatilla National Forest.