Of over 90 wildfires burning in 13 Western states, 28 are currently raging within California. The smoke and ash from the fires in our three westernmost states – Oregon, Washington and California – painted the skies with a foreboding burnt orange glow that lasted all of Wednesday.
Wind-driven fires were also blazing in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, according to USA Today.
These are un-manipulated images of San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge , Legion of Honor and Horizon today at 10:45 am SanFrancisco apocalypse2020 canoneosr5 gz8iaURZMp
— Robert Birnbach (@robertbirnbach) September 9, 2020
Then, there is the extremely rare almost two-feet of snow that fell in parts of Wyoming and Colorado this week. In a period of just 18 hours, the temperature dropped 60 degrees. Think about this – According to NOAA’s State of the Climate Report, released Wednesday, during the month of August the U.S. was hit by four different billion-dollar disasters: two hurricanes, huge wildfires and an extraordinary Midwest derecho.
“This is yet another example of where uncertainty is not our friend,” says Michael Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State. “As we learn more, we are finding that many climate change impacts, including these sorts of extreme weather events, are playing out faster and with greater magnitude than our models predicted.”
Insane skies right now in Stayton, Oregon. Crazy these images aren’t from the early morning or late at night… this is the view at 11 am. Stayton OrWx Pnw fox12oregon kL7GePmjTX
— Bonnie Silkman KPTV (@BonnieSilkman) September 8, 2020
In Northern California, wildfires are again threatening the town of Paradise, literally wiped off the map in the 2018 Camp Fire. Many families have already evacuated after witnessing the destruction in neighboring Oroville yesterday, reports The Hill.
“Firefighters across the Western states are seeing extreme fire behavior,” according to the National Fire Information Center. Three deaths have been reported in California, three in Oregon, and one in Washington state.
The Flatirons south of Boulder look majestic today with a light coat of snow & low hanging clouds. SnowInSeptember cowx e6OqSS0KBf
— Jen Walton (@mejenwalton) September 9, 2020
The extreme fire behavior is very worrisome. Not only are the winds ferocious at times, but add in the extreme low humidity and drought-like conditions, and you have a recipe for disaster. In addition, a stagnant air mass will likely keep areas of smoke in place across the Northwest, Great Basin, California and other areas across the West dealing with the wildfires, resulting in continued poor air quality, AccuWeather said.
The thing is – climate scientists have been warning us for a number of years that this is what we can start expecting as global warming sets in with a vengeance. We have a choice, you know. We can bury our heads in the sand and just ignore the warnings and choose to not see the disaster playing out before our eyes – or- we can grasp the bull by the horns and do something about it. It is a choice we will have to make – not tomorrow – but right now.
