Dry, hot weather threatens Calif. wildfire gains

[Ladywriter 7,783]

Some residents allowed to return home but blazes continue to rage

LOS ANGELES - A day of gains on the California firelines could be giving way to days of trouble.The return of some residents to their homes Monday marked progress against the siege of wildfires, but forecasters warned that weather is turning the advantage back in favor of the flames.

"A high pressure system is setting up over the entire West," said Mike Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. "So in addition to the very warm temperatures we're getting, we'll also be getting a little bit of offshore wind over the next couple of days, which keeps the moist marine air from coming inland."

The turn toward hot and drier weather comes as three major forest blazes — a blaze above the city of Goleta west of Santa Barbara, another 150 miles to the northwest at Big Sur and a third fire in the southern Sierra Nevada — are all less than half contained.

Those fires, considered the most dangerous, were among more than 300 still uncontained from some 1,780 that have scorched more than 960 square miles of California in two weeks. Most were started by lightning strikes, but several are believed to have been human-caused.

Some 100 structures statewide have been destroyed. One firefighter died of a heart attack.

suckage

[Zepling 100]

yeah our air quality sucks right now. Today is a spare the air and power conservation day. My geography teacher gave us the heads up that the next three days will most likely be spare the air days.

Bracing for the upcoming heat wave!

Today's spare the air day has renewed my faith in humanity. The traffic was unusually light this morning.

[Ladywriter 7,783]

I think most ppl generally want to do the right thing