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Sparse snowpack in California fuels concern over fast-approaching fire season
State data show the snowpack at 18% of average statewide, raising concern that warm conditions and dry fuels could bring an earlier mountain fire season.
- On Wednesday, state engineers at Phillips Station found sparse snow, with California's snowpack at 18% of average statewide and just 6% in northern mountains, marking the second-worst on record.
- Climate change is shifting California's fire seasons into year-round threats, as recent abundant water years fueled what experts called "bumper crops of vegetation and brush" now creating intense fuel layers.
- Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network, anticipates a "long, busy fire season," noting early spring conditions mean more time for ignitions to occur.
- Fire agencies in the Tahoe basin are accelerating prevention efforts, with Jim Drennan of South Lake Tahoe noting crews can mechanically clear forest fuels earlier than usual despite bizarre conditions.
- Martin Goldberg of the Lake Valley Fire Protection District urges homeowners to harden properties now, while climatologist John Abatzoglou warns these conditions preview California's climate stress in coming decades.
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12 Articles
12 Articles
On Wednesday, California recorded its second worst accumulation of snow in history, a potentially worrying sign for the fire season. It is an alarming end to a winter in which conditions of abnormal drought were briefly erased from the California drought map in January, for the first time in a quarter of a century. Although rainfall to date has been close to the average, much of it fell in the form of rain instead of snow. Subsequently, the Marc…
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Total News Sources12
Leaning Left1Leaning Right0Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Left, 50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Left, 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
L 50%
C 50%
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