https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mega-drought-california-extreme-fire-season/

BY JEFF BERARDELLI

UPDATED ON: JUNE 9, 2021 / 7:16 AM / CBS NEWS

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By almost any measure the drought in the Western states this year is about as bad as we’ve ever seen — perhaps the worst in modern history. A severe lack of rainfall over the past two years, combined with a steadily heating climate, has turned California into a tinderbox, setting the stage for what will likely be a catastrophic fire season ahead.

This comes on the heels of the worst fire season in recorded history in the West, setting a new bar for what seemed possible. In 2020, more than 8 million acres burned, with California and Colorado experiencing their largest fires ever. 

That’s why it’s startling to see the comparison between last year’s relatively modest drought and this year’s record-setting drought. Drought conditions this time last year are a blip on the radar compared to where we are right now. 

The orange in the above map represents severe drought, the red is extreme drought and the dark red is exceptional drought. A total of 72% of the West is blanketed in one of these three categories and more than one-quarter is in exceptional drought — the highest category. https://www.cbsnews.com/newsletters/widget/e879?v=008a1348ac072eab7c4aa92e6596867a&view=compact#tVNNb9swDP0rhs5VI8vfuXXogPUyFGh3WoZCH1Si1ZYNSU5WFP3voxKnDXocsJtN8j3yPVKvZJyiHV0g61cCatRA1gTapiNXZG%2FhgH9qHCahIgamMdhUjMGbECBmX0b9Qt6uSPRCPVu3TSQ2fHVC9qDJOvoZrojw0aoebua4G%2F0dhn8SznUhWFtRBU1OSw6KdhxKCiovO80KrVpOfn2CfhcDJPBvMCaT4IXX0Pf2oi6REw5VrkExynghkbsG2kFe0KpteaUbWTJek3fI%2FSxvRUyiOeM5ZTVlbZa365KtWflR9mhjn4o2ZICtoNqP83YXNySzLjtAiNkAwoUs7jyImI0mgz%2FRwwCZsR6yACKMLhM7EPqC82WCo70ugotPSxTzaux7UMnok1usFqxmtaTAq4qWXV5RYXJJOTS8U21htDGJtpSclWAol3VHy1KjqQ10FEzdNCUTjBUimfVBf3ZU9XZAEzK1E26bJkiSwKM02%2BukICSchr1V56k1hOc4Tlhrwy3sk3%2FpQMT2XODgEJ5shAHDeDXwzYJPveYjV4o8nIbAWoydQgsWG054knYPaK7EHHay6rhd0zANLS5WclSa58CpKExadpfnbZm3TdWdASd5J%2FY5gF%2FYhcOmVwQ120jW5fs%2BHsbZq%2BNGZMjS%2BFgkvXD6vhfRjH44DoDJo7Q07tOHCwHfjtPCvzymziEpDcqCQ8Jfn7N3%2BphvCsaaAo9O8hz31ZVApREdNU3etYZ3sqqqs1eLlKV5Egiit%2FOQHtzkR2P7i3QCYAm4tBbM6vREVZJtleh%2F%2BB7DuxinsN6sNqvD4XC9AK%2FxqW9W6WuzurxzijCLDjgr6HLYNJ0FPR32ZrWs%2Fj9SLwb8G8Xb218%3D

Over the past 20 years, the coverage of exceptional drought has never surpassed 11%. Right now it is a staggering 27%.

The escalating drought has severely dried out vegetation weeks before fire season really kicks in. The energy, or fuel, available to feed fires, technically called the Energy Release Component, is at a record level for this time of year. 

In the chart below for the Central Sierra mountains of California, the blue line represents the current energy available for fires, and the red line shows the previous highs. 

Although it appears that our current level is a record for all time, not just for the date, that needs some context. The data plotted for the Central Sierras only spans the last 10 years, so incorporating more years would likely show that the current amount of available energy is indeed a record for the date, but not for the entire fire season.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fweatherprof&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1402032267774500866&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Fmega-drought-california-extreme-fire-season%2F&sessionId=8ebf224d0d5e2de6ed5805a9b4c6aafecfcdfe85&siteScreenName=CBSNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550px

Fire season in the West traditionally ramps up in the summer and maximizes in the fall, but this season we have already seen numerous fires in the region. The Fire Weather Research Laboratory at San Jose State University says that vegetation moisture is so low that critical fuel moisture may be reached as early as this month.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fweatherprof&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1394504641409282048&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Fmega-drought-california-extreme-fire-season%2F&sessionId=8ebf224d0d5e2de6ed5805a9b4c6aafecfcdfe85&siteScreenName=CBSNews&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550px

This year’s drought is being caused by two factors: low rainfall the past two years and, over the longer term, human-caused climate change.