As deadly wildfires continue to burn in Southern California, with the Eaton and Palisades fires now ranking among California’s deadliest and most destructive blazes on record, experts are anxiously turning their attention to the weeks and months ahead.
If dry conditions persist, it could raise the risk of more fires sparking while the state’s resources are stretched thin. But if the weather shifts and rain starts pouring — a frequent occurrence during California’s wet winter season — it could trigger dangerous debris flows on an already scorched landscape.
Taken together, it’s a precarious situation for Southern California, where “things can change suddenly” during the winter months, according to John Abatzoglou, a climate scientist at the University of California, Merced.
There “will be a challenge for many if an atmospheric river decides to make a late appearance in the LA Basin,” he wrote in an email to POLITICO’s E&E News.
