Here's how rare it is to have large California wildfires burning in December

Kurt Snibbe and Daniel Tedford
LA Daily News
Wed, 06 Dec 2017 13:49 UTC

© Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times

The Thomas Fire reaches the 101 Freeway north of Ventura Wednesday evening.

There are at least six active wildfires burning in Southern California right now. That's nearly the total of all large December wildfires from 2000 to 2015, according to Cal Fire statistics.

The map below shows active fires as of noon, Dec. 6.

If you look at the statistics below, they show a mere seven California fires that burned more than 300 acres when totaling December numbers from 2000 to 2015. The second lowest months were January and February with 11 such wildfires.

July had the most fires between 2000 and 2015 with a total of 313.

Of the seven fires in December from 2000 to 2015, four were in Southern California and two were in Ventura County.

The total acres burned in those seven fires was 21,090. The fire burning right now in Ventura County, called the Thomas fire, is estimated to have already burned 65,000 acres - almost three times the acreage of the other December fires. The previous largest fire in December was the Shekell fire in Ventura which burned 13,600 acres in 2006.

Even before the start of this week's fires, this year was going down as the most destructive wildfire season in California history, state officials said.

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 3, there were 6,762 fires that destroyed 505,391 acres. That's 43 percent more events for the same time period last year, when 244,297 acres were destroyed, according to Cal Fire.

"Fuel. Ignition. Meteorology. Each component of the formula are off the charts this year," said Bill Patzert, a climatologist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "When all three elements in the equation are supersized, you're set up for apocalyptic conditions."

California is not alone in feeling the pain. In the U.S. Forest Service's 2017 briefing to Congress in October the agency said that the fire season was the most costly across the nation.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said, "As wildfire costs exceed $2 billion, I appreciate those in Congress who recognize this funding issue and are working to make a permanent fix that allows us to manage our forests preemptively. While we can't stop these wildfires, we know we can be prepared in a much better way."

Wildfire suppression for the Forest Service costs for the fiscal year exceeded $2 billion, making it the most expensive year on record.

Comment: See also: 'Out of control' Southern California wildfire explodes as growing blazes force 27,000 to flee

Nearly 200,000 people have been told to evacuate the California wildfires. The Thomas fire has burned at least 90,000 acres. The Creek fire has burned at least 12,600 acres and the Rye fire destroyed at least 7,000 acres. The Skirball fire covered 475 acres as of Wednesday evening. So far the Thomas fire has destroyed at least 150 structures and the Creek fire has destroyed at least 30 structures.

More than 1,800 firefighters have battled the erratic Thomas fire, which is just 5% contained, according to the latest update by Cal Fire. The Creek fire is also 5% contained and the Skirball fire is 10% contained. Little Mountain Fire is now 100% contained.

This youtube video shows drivers heading down the 405 freeway, where they met giant flames from the several fires burning in Southern California.

Here's a downright scary look at what California drivers were faced with driving to work:

Keep in mind that right now is the 'wet season' in California, which is why December wildfires are so rare, yet no rain has arrived.