Firefighters make tremendous progress against California wildfires

AccuWeather

AccuWeather California expert Ken Clark recalls the ferocity of the wildfires around Los Angeles and explains why the weather conditions over the coming days will be ideal for getting them contained.

Transcript

00:00So to help us break this down, we're now joined by AccuWeather California expert Ken Clark. Ken,

00:05you've been spending a lot of time with us for good reason here. We appreciate that you've been

00:08making yourself available so frequently here through this wildfire event here,

00:13one that's going into the history books. Ken, what's one thing that's going to jump out to

00:16you the most moving forward as you look back at this event in Los Angeles County?

00:22The fierceness of this storm, windstorm. It's one of the highest windstorms I can ever remember

00:29in Southern California. You combine that with how dry the air was, and then where the fire

00:34occurred. And where the fire occurred is more important than how big it was in the way of

00:39acreage. It's where it occurred in two very big urban areas. The amount of catastrophe that this

00:47has caused is hard to believe unless you've seen it a lot like I have and like you have, Jeff.

00:55Of all the damage, it's going to help the extensiveness of the damage.

00:59And the latest stats here on the fires here. Crews, at least from my perspective from a

01:04distance here, Ken, they did a tremendous job over the past 48 hours with perhaps a little help from

01:09the winds not reaching their full potential. What's your take on how things have behaved

01:15over the past 48 hours? It could have been worse in my opinion.

01:18Oh, it's gotten much better. And you can tell by just looking outside. Look outside here in

01:23Southern California. And you can't see anywhere near these fires, any flames anymore. You hardly

01:29see any thick smoke anymore. It's more hazy smoke type stuff. So you know these crews are really

01:35doing a great battle with these fires, getting them under control. And the weather is really,

01:40really going to cooperate over the next several days.

01:43And Ken, I know that you are in Rancho Cucamonga. Geographically, for somebody not in Southern

01:48California, where is that located? I'm located in what's called the

01:52Inland Empire, about 45 to 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and out near the riverside

01:57area, riverside on the map. I'm just to the west of there.

02:01Okay. And from your perspective, when you looked north or northwest back on, say, Wednesday of last

02:06week, what did you see? Could you see the smoke from your area? Could you see the column being

02:09swept offshore? I could see the column of smoke that was

02:14from the Eaton fire, that one in particular. Even though it was blowing to the west and to the

02:19southwest, I could still see it. And I drive maybe 10 miles farther down the road and I could

02:26really see it then. I wasn't really that far from that origin of that fire, maybe about 25,

02:3230 miles as I drive. Certainly an unsettling thing. And I know

02:36you've been, you see this through a different lens as somebody way better educated and much

02:41more versed on California weather than anybody we know here. That's why we're talking to you

02:47about this. So, Ken, when we talk about the forecast in the southwest here, I know there's

02:51still some risk tomorrow, but putting this in context compared to where we've been, we're

02:55moving in the right direction. Moving greatly in the right direction. We're

02:59going to have some breezes still even into tomorrow morning, especially in the Ventura

03:03County coastal plain, that area, maybe a bit below the Cajon Pass as well in the Inland

03:07Empire, but nothing like it was today. And then it's all over for several days. Winds

03:12will turn onshore just starting tomorrow afternoon. And by Friday, we're in a full

03:16fledge onshore flow through the weekend, going to bring back cooler temperatures,

03:21but most importantly, much more moisture in the air. In fact, so much moisture in the

03:26air, there probably will be some widespread low clouds and start both days of the weekend

03:31and maybe as early as Friday morning, running along the immediate coast.

03:34This is something, well, most people don't like seeing, but aren't going to see and be

03:38happy to see. Absolutely. And just real briefly,

03:41Ken, the concern does return to some extent then into next week. Could you talk about

03:46early indications for next week's Santa Ana wind event?

03:50There is concern and for good reason. Our models are not in great agreement of how strong

03:55a Santa Ana event may occur and where it occurs yet. And that's something we're going to have

04:00to watch. But some of our models are indicating we could have another strong one or we could

04:05have a weak one. Now, how are we going to know what's going to happen? I think we have

04:09to wait and see. And the best place to wait and see is right here on this channel, because

04:13we'll let you know first. All right. That's well said. We appreciate that, Ken. Thank

04:17you so much again. Active weather California expert Ken Clark. He's the best when it comes

04:22to Southern California and the entire Golden State. Thanks again, Ken Clark.

04:27You're welcome, Jeff.

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