Heat is building in the western United States and by the end of the week, record setting temperatures will cover the entire region.
California’s two largest active wildfires have burned the second and third largest amount of acreage in the state’s history. One of these, is north of San Francisco and the other is southeast.
USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says both were started by weather.
“In mid August, at one point, we saw over a million acres of vegetation in California burned in less than a week... lighting strikes sparked dozens of large wildfires, hundreds of smaller ones,” he said. “As we move into September, the western wildfire situation has, at least temporarily, quieted. We’ve seen cooler weather, higher humidity levels, and even a few rain showers that have helped firefighters to get the upper hand on some of these larger wildfires.”
He goes on to say that the wildfires are almost two-thirds contained, but this weekend’s heat will be something to keep an eye on.
