California has a long dark history of destructive and devastating wildfires but the Tubbs firestorm of October 2017 will likely go down as one of the state’s worst. The scenes coming out of Santa Rosa in the Wine Country NE of San Francisco resembled those of the state’s worst fire disaster, the Oakland Hills Fire of October 1991.
This week’s scene from Santa Rosa, CA
There’s no words to describe the destruction of the #tubbsfire. Many families are coming home to find… this. pic.twitter.com/8BSizmUlAP
— Lizzie Johnson (@lizziejohnsonnn) October 9, 2017
Oakland Hills in 1991
@jmichaelsanto photo from 1991 Oakland Hills Fire. pic.twitter.com/TsLWkaMb6d
— Steven (@steven94117) October 11, 2017
Why Another Firestorm in 2017?
A record wet 2016-17 El Nino winter in the wake of a multi-year drought followed by a typically dry summer created the perfect recipe for another brewing disaster. Thick vegatation growth over hard, dry ground was perfect and the fuel? HOT, DRY Diablo winds created by strong high over the Great Basin makes for a fire hell.
Classic wildland fire pattern in California after 5 months of dry weather plus high pressure over Great Basin creating gusty warm dry winds. pic.twitter.com/hMs0wU1q9u
— Jan Null (@ggweather) October 9, 2017
October has a fierce reputation for destructive wildfires in California and prior to this event, 5 out of the top 6 worst fire disasters in California occurred during October.
15 of the top 20 worst fires have occurred during the fall season.
Jan Null of the NWS Bay Area says Coastal California’s Mediterranean climate means that the warmest conditions coincide with the driest time of year which is during late summer, early fall and as the US landmass cools, higher pressure builds over the Great Basin which often triggers Diablo and Santa Ana wind events at this time of year.
Dramatic footage shows a @sonomasheriff deputy driving through an advancing wildfire in Northern California https://t.co/vAqE0hVFCQ pic.twitter.com/t6dSvFialN
— CNN (@CNN) October 11, 2017
Just 9% of rain in Los Angeles and San Francisco occurs during the six month dry season.
FROM WEATHER.COM
High Winds Return to Fan the Flames
Summer’s wildfires in California tend to burn more slowly, starting in more remote areas, often due to lightning.
In the fall, Calfornia’s infamous offshore winds, known locally as Santa Ana (southern California) or Diablo (northern California) winds, typically kick into gear, according to a 2017 climatology study.
“In September and October, we begin seeing high pressure developing over the Great Basin and this creates dry warm offshore winds,” said Null.
“Since the Great basin is nominally 4000 feet in elevation, the air is compressed as it descends to sea level, warming and drying it. When this flow is forced over mountains and through canyons it accelerates.”
If the jet stream is also located just to the east of the state over the Great Basin, a downward push of strong winds can occur, intensifying the offshore wind event.
These intense offshore winds can occur, at times, from fall through spring.
What makes them particularly dangerous in October is that they occur when, as mentioned earlier, soil moisture is at its driest after the dry season.
These Santa Ana or Diablo winds can quickly whip either an existing wildfire or just-developed small brush fire into an inferno, blowing embers downstream, starting many more spot fires, often in more heavily-populated areas.
“October is sort of the perfect storm month for California firestorms,” said Null.
Updated Red Flag Warning and Wind Advisory Information for later today. VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER! #cawx #northbay #napa #sonoma pic.twitter.com/K3dIA9qJf2
— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) October 11, 2017
All the ingredients came together this week across California’s wine growing region and particularly the city of Santa Rosa as fire was sparked and ‘Diablo winds’ fanned the rapid growth and furious speed of what became a firestorm, obliterating everything in it’s path. Entire neighborhood were wiped off the map.
Over 2,000 homes and businesses were burnt to the ground within just 36 hours.
Horrific before and after images shows extent of deadly California wildfire 'It was like Armageddon, every branch on every tree was on fire' pic.twitter.com/Ux8foQV6fF
— Brandi Saari (@brandilmelb) October 10, 2017
Firestorm laid waste to a wide swath of Santa Rosa, marking Sonoma's worst natural disaster #TubbsFire #SonomaFires https://t.co/eM2FukkFQN pic.twitter.com/OaeOc9kgQP
— Brett Wilkison (@BrettWilkison) October 10, 2017
Santa Rosa resident returning to neighborhood leveled by flames: “It’s unbelievable…Just like that.” https://t.co/hUbojb1uRL #sonomafires pic.twitter.com/5W3dkHui47
— Brett Wilkison (@BrettWilkison) October 9, 2017
NOAA's #GOES16 shows #wildfires (in Geo & Natural Fire Color) raging in parts of #California yesterday. More loops: https://t.co/8l5NGSMGLx pic.twitter.com/WKXhLgorcf
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) October 10, 2017
In Southern California, Santa Ana winds have spread one fire to 6,000 acres. At least 5,000 homes were evacuated. https://t.co/cMZfzJCGkU pic.twitter.com/N1BAM8NB9V
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) October 10, 2017
LOOK at these pictures from #SantaRosa, CA. Wooden tables & chairs untouched directly next to complete #wildfire devastation. Fire IS wild. pic.twitter.com/fRsXjPgDkS
— Justin Michaels (@JMichaelsNews) October 10, 2017
Santa Rosa fire: 1500+ structures destroyed, 20,000 people in 8 counties evacuated, 20,000 acres ravaged in12 hours, an "unprecedented rate" pic.twitter.com/v5hMVed1Sk
— Adam Khan (@Khanoisseur) October 9, 2017
Have you seen this woman? #Missing in #SantaRosa fire. Sharon Rae Robinson, 79. Her daughter is very worried, says she might be confused. pic.twitter.com/tlP1bNdc0G
— Elissa Harrington (@ElissaABC7) October 11, 2017
My cousin is missing! Her home was destroyed in Tubbs fire and she is wheelchair bound – PLEASE HELP! @abc7newsbayarea @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/BMKp8oSPY7
— Brittney Vinculado (@bizzi_v) October 10, 2017
#santarosafire #santarosa Our thoughts and prayers with all those affected by this fire, and all the hard working Fire Rescue & Police. pic.twitter.com/lKYaH6mYrp
— TeleTraffic (@TeleTrafficOrl) October 11, 2017
Most recent update for Northern California. We had winds up to 79 miles per hour overnight. #TubbsFire #RedwoodFire #CALFIRE pic.twitter.com/6MX0ixDiFy
— Kat ???????? (@Kat90304176) October 9, 2017
Devastating wildland-urban interface #wildfires ongoing in #NorthBay; driven by strong offshore wind event. #TubbsFire #AtlasFire #AdobeFire pic.twitter.com/GCnCDxw81y
— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) October 9, 2017
Unbelievable aerial images of Coffey Park destruction by my colleague John Burgess. #Tubbsfire #SantaRosa https://t.co/YS5LTuP21u pic.twitter.com/siW6Xk8ki8
— Robert Digitale (@digitalestories) October 11, 2017
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