From flooding rain to unmitigated wildfire: Why California is ground zero for disasters
California is uniquely susceptible to the worst of what human-caused climate change is throwing at us.
By Mary Gilbert, CNN & Angela Fritz, CNN
Published Jan 9, 2025 6:43 PM EST | Updated Jan 9, 2025 6:43 PM EST
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The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 7. (Photo Credits: Ethan Swope/AP via CNN Newsource)
(CNN) — Southern California was under water less than a year ago. A siege of torrential rain from atmospheric rivers started in December and reached a crescendo in early February when nearly a foot fell in Los Angeles. It was a deadly winter of storms that flooded roads, floated cars and triggered hundreds of mudslides.
Now, the weather pendulum has swung the other way.
Drought has swept over the Southern California landscape after one of the region’s hottest summers on record, and the driest start to the rainy season on record. It turned all the vegetation that grew in last winter’s torrential rain into tinder that has fueled an unimaginable week: wildfires have spread out of control across Los Angeles-area neighborhoods, propelled by a once-in-a-decade windstorm.
Fire-damaged vehicles are burned out at a dealership in Altadena, California, on January 8. (Photo Credits: Ethan Swope/AP via CNN Newsource)
“Had we seen significant or widespread precipitation in the weeks and months leading up to this event, we would not be seeing the extent of devastation we are currently seeing,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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