How the latest Sierra storm impacts wildfire risk in Northern California
SODA SPRINGS — Opening day at multiple ski resorts in the Sierra came a week early: Boreal, Heavenly, and Kirkwood welcomed skiers and snowboarders to the mountain on Veteran's Day due to the more than two feet of snow that fell in parts of the Sierra.
Fuels, that have been historically dry in the Sierra and increased the risk for wildfire danger, are wet from rain and snow. It's a relief for CalFire crews, at least for now, because as moisture levels go up the risk of fire danger goes down.
"Trust me, it's a welcome relief for the fire season, but much like last year we saw heavy precipitation in December, the non-fire season times of the year have become less predictable," said CalFire Unit Chief Brian Estes.
Estes said that the snow and rain lower fire risk now, but it's not guaranteed to last into February.
"We still don't know what the months to come are going to look like, with the number of fuel types we have, two months of dry weather we'll see the propensity for wildfires to burn into the winter," said Estes.
He explained the risk for wildfire, in California, doesn't disappear at any time of year due to the type of fuel types across the jurisdiction.
"The key thing for whether there's fire danger or not, is how dry are fuels, this storm really wet them down a lot," said Andrew Latimer a Professor at UC Davis.
The National Interagency Fire Center put out a predictive outlook Friday that reported the cool and moist weather over the past two weeks has "significantly mitigated flammable fuel alignments across the region" and that means, "little to no significant fire risk exists."
The outlook covers November 10-17 and covers Northern California, including the foothills and Sacramento Valley. The same outlook found that in the Greater Bay Area and the Sacramento Valley a "few spotty locations" may experience a "little higher" fire danger until sufficient green-up can occur. Likely, however, this will likely be limited to "strong/dry wind periods that happen to occur the next few weeks."
Latimer said it will take multiple precipitation events, like snow and rain, to put a dent in the statewide drought. The more than two feet of snow in the Sierra that fell this week, he noted, was a welcome first step and start.
