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California wildfires.

Holy crap. I can't remember a metro fire like this. I'm sure it has happened but this is just wild.
As far as I'm aware, the scale of these fires overall is an unprecedented event for the LA area; not sure if/when fires have occurred in this part of the region before. In any case, these are densely-populated places, including many vulnerable populations and historic areas.
 
Hollywood HS to serve as the local evacuation center for those displaced by, or fleeing from the Sunset Fire.
 
Sunset Fire now at 50 acres burned from 20 acres some time ago.
 
The SPC put out an Extremely Critical Fire Risk for that area for today:

View attachment 32698

It looks like it could continue through tomorrow:

View attachment 32699

And even Friday:

View attachment 32700

Although after that, the chance of fire-favorable weather drops precipitously (thankfully--knock on wood there!).

UPDATE:

I just checked the SPC's fire weather forecasting page, and it looks like there's a bit of a change in the forecast--and it's not in a good direction.

Here's the latest Day 3-8 Fire Weather forecast discussion:

ZCZC SPCFWDD38 ALL
FNUS28 KWNS 082138

Day 3-8 Fire Weather Outlook
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0338 PM CST Wed Jan 08 2025

Valid 101200Z - 161200Z

Fire weather concerns are expected to remain confined to the
southern CA coast through the extended period where dry, and at
times windy, conditions are expected to continue for the next week.
Elsewhere across the country, a combination of recent precipitation,
rain/snow chances, and cold temperatures should limit additional
fire concerns.

...D3/Fri and D6/Mon to D7/Tue - Southern California Coast...
Moderate easterly low to mid-level winds are expected to persist
from late D2/Thursday into early D3/Friday morning across far
southern CA as an upper shortwave trough slowly translates
east/southeast. 15-25 mph winds will likely be ongoing along the
western slopes of the coastal terrain at the start of the forecast
period. The ongoing offshore wind event has established a very dry
air mass along the southern CA coast that is expected to persist
through Friday. While winds are expected to diminish through the
day, a few hours of elevated to critical fire weather conditions
appear possible during the morning hours.

Long-range ensemble guidance continues to show the passage of an
upper-level shortwave trough along the West Coast with a building
surface high over the northern Great Basin during the D6/Mon to
D7/Tues period. This synoptic regime is characteristic of previous
critical fire patterns for the southern CA coast, and the signal for
this regime has been fairly consistent in sequential model runs and
among various deterministic/ensemble solutions. Confidence in
forecast details remains very low at this range due to considerable
spread regarding the evolution and intensity of the upper wave,
though the general consensus appears to be that mid/upper-level
winds for the Mon/Tue system will not be as strong compared to the
ongoing offshore flow event. This perhaps signals a less intense
offshore flow event overall, though critical LAX-TPH pressure
gradient thresholds may be met based on ensemble probabilities.
Given the persistent signal and notable fire activity across the Los
Angeles region, 40% risk areas have been introduced for D6/Mon and
D7/Tue when the offshore flow regime should become established.

..Moore.. 01/08/2025

...Please see www.spc.noaa.gov/fire for graphic product...

$$

CLICK TO GET FNUS38 KWNS PFWF38 FIRE WEATHER OUTLOOK DAY 3-8 AREAL OUTLINE PRODUCT

(Ignore the fact that it's marked as Wednesday the 8th (it should actually be Thursday the 8th)--I think the forecaster who wrote this up accidentally got the dates mixed up.)

It looks like the chance for more fires could extend into this weekend, with potential for even more during midweek next week.:(
 
Thankfully, the winds have dropped enough that airplanes can be more involved in the firefighting. This also means that fire perimeters have been more accurately established.

In about half an hour things are going to ramp back up, so I'm expecting possibly updated numbers then, but as of right now, the Palisades fire is at 17,234 acres. The Eaton fire is 10,590 acres and the Hurst fire is at 855. The firefighters did excellent work yesterday, especially with the smaller fires that popped up and blazed up quickly. The Lidia fire was one such. It sounds like it is still burning, but as of last night they had stopped forward motion at 348 acres, and evacuation orders were lifted. The Sunset fire (Hollywood) also was dealt with fairly quickly, with evacuation orders mostly being lifted (a few still stand). This is the one that I'm not so sure on what it's current status is--I think it might be considered "knocked down." The small fire that started in Studio City has already been completely dealt with, thank goodness.

Edit: Yep, the Sunset fire has had all evacuation orders lifted, though firefighters will still be "working in the area."
 
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