Holding My Breath As the Wind Blows

Growing up in the desert of Southern California (age 5 - 17), I knew hostile weather as the norm. Winters were cold and short, and sometimes brought more than a few days of rain. Lots of dry. Spring and Fall were warm and windy. Lots of wind. Summers were long (May - October), and hot (90 - 120). Lots of hot. 

August and September sometimes brought more rain than we saw in January, when the Arizona monsoons ventured west with more than just lightning over the mountains.

I saw snow twice, and one of those times it stayed on the ground for a few hours. I saw frozen puddles and dog water bowls left outside overnight. I saw wind that blew over 50 gallon drums full of water. I saw dust storms with zero visibility, worse than any fog I've ever seen. I saw lizards that died on the road because it was so hot they were cooked before they could make it the full distance. I saw sky-to-ground storms travel across the valley, bringing the smell of rain, and the staccato of continuous lightning.

What I didn't see was fire. Hot, dry, windy - no fire. Lightning strikes hitting the brush-thick ground - no fire. Years of dry vegetation - no fire. We had seasons of a sort, but we didn't have fire season.

This is not to say that there is never fire in the desert. Arizona saw devastating fires in desert areas in 2012/2013, including the tragic Yarnell fire that took the lives of 19 young firefighters. But during my desert years there was no fire there.

I live in the suburbs now. Our lawns and trees are green. There's a lot of concrete and asphalt. Our streets have gutters and storm drains to manage rain water.

We are under red flag warning until 7 PM tomorrow. Until they extend it.

Surrounding this healthy suburbia are foothills, valleys, chaparral. Dry, brittle, dense. Lots and lots of it.

Although we enjoyed cooler temps last weekend, the thermometer has been moving up all week, and we are once again in the high 90's. It doesn't cool down much at night. Humidity is low - the air practically sparks from the static.

Today, the winds started. Not gale-force winds. No apparent gusts of tremendous speed.

But as soon as I saw the front yard bushes moving consistently for an hour I thought - uh oh. An hour later the red flag warning showed up on my weather feed. Uh- oh indeed :-(

Different areas in drought-stricken California have been on fire all summer. As early as May, multiple fires were burning in San Diego County. The King fire alone (near Lake Tahoe) has destroyed nearly 100,000 acres since September 13 and is just now 94% contained. As of yesterday 5,062 wildfires have burned at least 629,764 acres in California.

Of all those fires, only three were in Los Angeles County. Only the Colby Fire in June burned near a thousand acres. We have been very, very lucky.

The majority of California fires are started by arsonists and lightning strikes.

There are no storms in the area. No storms in the forecast. But the wind is blowing. Arsonists wait for the wind.

The combination of hot, dry and windy is now so different than the desert of my youth. And so much more critical after years of drought. Now it means use caution, pay attention, and pray for increased humidity, lower temperatures, and for the wind to go away.

It's sad really. I love the wind. The power of it, the energy. Without the hot and dry, without those who are waiting - it's wonderful!

But not today. Not now.

Now, I'm just holding my breath.