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Fri, 22 Feb 2019
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California Mudslides, a Sign of Worse to Come?

Niall Bradley
Sott.net
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 20:21 UTC
oprah mudflow

Oprah Winfrey surveys the damage from the mudflow on her property in Montecito, southern California
13 years to the day since the La Conchita landslide killed 10 people following a deluge, the same stretch of southern California between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles was hit with another deluge that produced instant and devastating mudflows. With the area torched by the Thomas Wildfire the preceding month, the heavy rain that fell on 9-10 January produced instant run-off from higher ground that washed away everything in its path, all the way down to the ocean.

As more dead bodies are found in the disaster zone, local authorities have gradually increased the death toll - which currently stands at 20 - while they report that another 8 people remain missing. The surge also injured about 200 people and destroyed or damaged about 500 homes in Montecito, Santa Barbara County - located just a few kilometers from La Conchita - and washed out a 30-mile stretch of the 101 Freeway.

From above, the debris flow appears to have converted the wealthy neighborhood - which is home to mega-stars like Oprah and Ellen - into a brown swamp.

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Bizarro Earth

After the flames subside: Hillsides left barren by California wildfires now at risk from mudslides

Paul Vercammen
CNN
Tue, 02 Jan 2018 11:15 UTC
Thomas fire, California
© Noah Berger/AP
The Thomas fire burns through Los Padres National Forest near Ojai, California
The frightening hiss and crackle of the massive Thomas Fire in Southern California has been replaced by the loud droning of heavy equipment below the burn area.

Public work crews in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties are frantically clearing out every debris basin and storm drain possible, because the fire has left behind another threat -- mudslides.

"The Thomas Fire burned all of our front country range here," said Tom Fayram, Santa Barbara's deputy director of public works."

All these hills normally have a protective cover of chaparral. That's all gone. Almost 100% gone," he said.

What's left is black-gray hillside that officials and residents alike fear will become ashy waves of floodwater with the first rain of a so far bone-dry season.
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Arrow Up

Record-breaking natural disasters from around the world in 2017 (PHOTOS)

Hilary Brueck
Business Insider
Sun, 24 Dec 2017 17:17 UTC
Hurricane Maria damage
© Carlos Giusti/AP
People walk next to a gas station flooded and damaged by the impact of Hurricane Maria, which hit the eastern region of the island, in Humacao, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, September 20, 2017.
2017 was an expensive, deadly year of natural disasters on Earth.

Wildfires relentlessly scorched dry land from California to Portugal. Super-strength hurricanes and tropical storms slammed homes from the Caribbean to Ireland. Famine continued in Somalia and Yemen, while avalanches killed more than a hundred people in Afghanistan.

People around the world recorded record-breaking devastation, much of it caused by higher-than-usual temperatures on land and at sea. Climate experts say that in a warming world, these fatal events will continue to worsen.


Comment: See these related articles on so-called 'global warming':

A November 2017 report released by the Trump Administration cautioned that "extreme climate events" like heavy rainfall, extreme heatwaves, wildfires, and sea-level rise will all get more severe around the globe, and that some of these events could result in abrupt, irreversible changes to the climate as we know it.

Here's a look at some of the deadly power Mother Nature wielded in 2017:

A trio of super-strong hurricanes pummeled the Caribbean and US Gulf Coast, with each storm causing tens of billions of dollars in damage.

Comment: For more information on extreme weather from around the world, check out our Earth Changes Summaries. The latest video for November 2017:

To understand how and why these extreme weather events are occurring read Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection by Pierre Lescaudron and Laura Knight-Jadczyk.

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Fire

Thomas Fire is now the largest wildfire in California history


BBC
Sat, 23 Dec 2017 08:45 UTC
Satellite imagery shows the vast Thomas Fire
© NASA/EPA
Satellite imagery shows the vast Thomas Fire, north of Los Angeles, which has spread as far as the Pacific coast
A deadly wildfire which has destroyed more than 700 homes in California is now the largest blaze in the state's recorded history.

The Thomas fire has burned more than 1000sq km - an area greater than New York City, Brussels and Paris combined.

The blaze broke out in Santa Paula in early December and has moved west towards the coast, one of several major fires in California in recent months.

Thousands of firefighters have been deployed to bring it under control.

Most of California's largest wildfires have been recorded this century. Scientists say the warming climate and spread of buildings into wilderness areas have contributed.

The Thomas fire slowly eclipsed previous record-setting blazes, finally overtaking the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego County, which burned 273,246 acres.


Comment: Thomas Fire Becomes Third-Largest Ever as California Experiences Another Record-Breaking Wildfire Season
The climate is changing; it is tending towards increasing extremes; and it is becoming more volatile, unpredictable, and expensive to mitigate against. But as I've written about before, people are completely overlooking the likely 'arsonist' behind increased wildfires: an increase in outgassing of methane and other natural gases from below:

The growing threat of underground fires and explosions


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Fire

Thomas Fire Becomes Third-Largest Ever as California Experiences Another Record-Breaking Wildfire Season

Gary Boyle
Sott.net
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 07:40 UTC
Wildfire in Santa Barbara, California.
© Mike Eliason/AP
Flames from a back firing operation rise behind a home in Santa Barbara, California.
It's still wildfire season in California. If you're wondering when the season ends, it's November 20th, although as you may have noticed, it's still going strong. In fact, for the last decade or so, California's 'new normal' is that wildfires continue erupting for an extra two months, and this year they may burn well past that into February.

New evacuation orders were issued this past weekend in Santa Barbara County, making downtown Santa Barbara a virtual ghost town as the Thomas fire moved closer. Wind gusts of up to 60mph pushed what is now the third-largest wildfire in California's history towards Montecito, the wealthiest city in Santa Barbara County. The rich and famous - like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres - have fled too, but fear not, their homes are less likely to burn because they pay private insurance to hire private 'concierge firefighters' to protect their homes.

Fire officials said Saturday that the Thomas fire, which started December 4, had now burned nearly 105,000 hectares (400 square miles), leaving a footprint larger than those of some cities. The fire is said to be about 40 percent contained, but fire officials added that about 18,000 structures remain threatened, and that high winds could kick up new blazes by flinging embers far from the heart of the inferno.

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Fire

Eerie light bleeds through California's horizon as smoke engulfs the skies in rare December wildfires ravaging the region (VIDEO)


The Big Wobble
Tue, 12 Dec 2017 12:00 UTC
Eery apocolyptic glow seen on the horizon as Californian skies dimmed by smoke from unusual December fires
This is the stunning 'apocalyptic glow' that has formed over California as authorities battle a wildfire the size of Singapore.

It was filmed in the coastal city of Morro Bay and shows a smoky glow in the skies over the state, which is enduring the fifth biggest fire in its history.
The blaze, which has been named the Thomas Fire, has now burned an area of more than 230,000 acres around 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

The clip was posted on Twitter by David R Purl, who wrote: "Apocalyptic smoky glow in Morrow Bay from Thomas Fire 10 Dec 2017. "God bless the Responders!"

Strong wind gusts of up to 40mph and extremely low humidity that is expected through Thursday will continue to pose a challenge to firefighting efforts, the National Weather Service said.
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Cloud Grey

Huge, mushroom-shaped 'fire cloud' generates its own weather over Southern California

Amy Graff
SF Gate
Mon, 11 Dec 2017 19:37 UTC
Professional photographer Greg Vitalich took this photo of the massive imposing smoke generated by the Thomas Fire from his back deck in Newbury Park on Dec. 11, 2017, at 11:45 a.m.
© Greg Vitalich
Professional photographer Greg Vitalich took this photo of the massive imposing smoke generated by the Thomas Fire from his back deck in Newbury Park on Dec. 11, 2017, at 11:45 a.m.
Many were captivated early Sunday afternoon when a massive pyrocumulus cloud, or fire cloud, formed over the Santa Ynez Mountains in Southern California.

The Thomas Fire in Ventura County generated the foreboding mushroom cloud of smoke resembling what you might see above an erupting volcano.

Professional photographer Greg Vitalich of Newbury Park was one of those who caught sight of the otherworldly view of smoke.

"I was leaving the house to go to lunch and I was stopped in my tracks at the sight of that omonious cloud," Vitalich says. "I've grown used to seeing the smoke and the fire from my house in recent days. This was a lot different from what I've seen."

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Fire

At 230,000 acres, California's Thomas fire is now the fifth-largest wildfire in the state's history

Melissa Etehad, Ruben Vives, Harriet Ryan and Alene Tchekmedyian
Los Angeles Times
Sun, 10 Dec 2017 22:05 UTC
Thomas fire, California
© Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
A huge plume of smoke rises north of Ventura as seen Sunday afternoon from the Ventura pier, as the Thomas fire threatens parts of Carpenteria and Montecito.
Santa Barbara County was under siege from the Thomas fire Sunday as fire crews fought to keep the destructive blaze from the region's picturesque beach communities.

Authorities said the out-of-control blaze had scorched 230,000 acres by Sunday evening, making it the fifth largest wildfire in modern California history.

The fire grew by more than 50,000 acres during the day, triggering new evacuation orders for about 5,000 county residents, including those east of Mission Canyon and north of Highway 192. An additional 30,000 residents west of Mission Canyon to Highway 154 and south of Highway 192 to the county line were told to prepare to leave.

As the fire grew Sunday, containment dropped from 15% to 10%, authorities said.

The blaze has destroyed 524 structures and damaged 135 in the city of Ventura. In the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, 266 structures have been destroyed, while 56 were damaged. The fire consumed six structures on Sunday in beach town of Carpinteria, authorities said.

Santa Ana winds, aided by extremely low humidity, pushed the Ventura County fire over the Santa Barbara County line Saturday night. The winds that bedeviled fire crews from San Diego to Ojai last week were gusting at speeds of up to 35 mph, fire officials said.


Comment: Other related articles:

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Fire

Deadly and destructive winter wildfires are 'the new normal' says California governor


The Telegraph (UK)
Sat, 09 Dec 2017 22:21 UTC
Thomas fire, California
© Noah Berger/AP
The Thomas fire burns through Los Padres National Forest near Ojai, California
A week of destructive fires in Southern California is ending but danger still looms.

Well into what's considered the wet season, there's been nary a drop of rain. That's good news for sun-seeking tourists, but could spell more disaster for a region that emerged this spring from a years long drought and now has firefighters on edge because of parched conditions and no end in sight to the typical fire season.

"This is the new normal," Gov. Jerry Brown warned Saturday after surveying damage from the deadly Ventura County fire that has caused the most destruction. "We're about ready to have firefighting at Christmas. This is very odd and unusual."


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


Even as firefighters made progress containing six major wildfires from Santa Barbara to San Diego County and most evacuees were allowed to return home, predicted gusts of up to 50 mph (80 kph) through Sunday posed a threat of flaring up existing blazes or spreading new ones. High fire risk is expected to last into January.

Overall, out-of-control fires have destroyed nearly 800 homes and other buildings, killed dozens of horses and forced more than 200,000 people to flee flames that have burned over 270 square miles (700 square kilometers) since Monday. One death, so far, a 70-year-old woman who crashed her car on an evacuation route, is attributed to the fire in Santa Paula, a small city next to Ventura where the fire began.

Firefighters were on high alert for dangerous fire potential even before the first blazes broke out. On Dec. 1, they began planning for extreme winds forecast in the week ahead.

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Fire

State of emergency declared in San Diego as yet another California inferno burns homes


RT
Fri, 08 Dec 2017 02:40 UTC
Lilac Fire, a fast moving wildfire, in Bonsall, California
© Mike Blake / Reuters
A firefighter is working on extinguishing the Lilac Fire, a fast moving wildfire, in Bonsall, California, US, December 7, 2017
The Lilac Fire in San Diego North County has burned two people, charred 2,500 acres and destroyed 20 structures. The blaze erupted after several other fires raged throughout Southern California and even into West Los Angeles.

Lilac Fire

The Lilac Fire was first reported at 11:20am Thursday on the southbound Interstate-15 freeway, near the connector to the State Route 76 freeway in North County, about 45 miles northeast of San Diego. State Route 76 has since been closed to traffic, according to KNSD.

The fire prompted California Governor Jerry Brown (D) to declare a state of emergency in San Diego County. The National Weather Service (NWS) said a wildfire risk in San Diego County is extreme Thursday, due to dry vegetation and Santa Ana conditions.

Humidity was in the range of 5-15 percent, and any new fires will have a high probability of becoming big in a short period of time, according to the US Forest Service, KNSD reported.


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

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