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SoCal fires

thanks for the kind words

when i was younger i used to have to use a nebulizer every day. i guess the asthma is not so bad now, but the air even inside still sucks
 
**** dawgs... chucky. hope things end up ok for yours.

rower, same for you

et al in the area of course.


the particulate stuff reminds me of nyc when the winds changed and sent the ashes up north to my place... and yet the air was "safe"... my ass

as dumb as you may look wearing them, get some masks.... can't hurt.
 
Originally posted by rt_brained
Not quite sure I understand all this talk about the "strange coincidences" between the timing of the So Cal fires and the collective anniversaries of the Malibu, Oakland, Laguna Beach, et. al. fires.

If you've lived in California long enough, you know that September and October are classic Santa Ana months. You can practically set your clock to it, just as you can to June and the marine layer (aka, "June Gloom").

I believe we also have similar Santa Ana conditions for a short time in the spring, but Sept-Oct is typically worse. Drier and warmer...the jet stream allows an occassional strong High pressure system to camp out over northern Nevada and Colorado for days at a time, naturally displacing the air around it in a counter-clockwise (southwesterly) direction towards California and the Pacific (the opposite direction air normally flows here). Great for surfing, but lousy for most everything else.

But there's a mountain range that the displaced air has to high tail over and through, followed by a series of hills on the other side (this is earthquake country after all). The air takes the quickest and least resistant path funneling through the canyons and valleys, increasing in speed, warming the air and drying it out significantly. Result: Santa Ana winds.

It comes at a time when we are especially vulnerable, at the end of the summer, where again, if you know summers in California, most regions haven't seen a drop of rain for months. Most of So Cal is pretty dry in anticipation of our first rain for the winter and much of the wild growth around us has died off or is desperate for water. This is why the Santa Anas are so much worse in Sept-Oct than in the spring. Especially in the less densly populated areas (hills, canyons and mountian regions—read: Oakland Heights, Malibu, Laguna Beach, Alta Dena, Upland, San Diego, etc.).

Whole communities are being built in hills and areas that for years were subject to wildfires in years past. I've noticed fewer large fires over the years locally, but as the density of homes has increased in these areas where the wind can really take a toll, we're seeing fires taking out hundreds of homes where 25-30 years ago, we might have only seen a handful.
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Wow, you sure know your stuff. I've grown up in LA and seen my share of fires as well. I just think that this is the worst it's been, in conjunction with several other fires in riverside and san diego, in a long while. I mean what are the chances that 10 fires (I think that was the count at one point...) all break out at once. I know it's fire season and all but so many in a single weekend?

That's what I thought was weird about all of that.
 
Originally posted by wdlove
Have you heard anything about Portofino Drive in Rancho Cucamonga? That is where my friend lives. Are you having any respiratory problems?
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I've had no respiratory problems, but my eyes sting. I just talked to my friend in San Diego, who said the air quality is terrible there and that a news report said the air won't be good for 7-10 days after the fires are put out.

Here are a pair of maps showing roughly the same area around Rancho Cucamonga. The map on the left is from Mapquest and the star is on Portofino Drive. The map on the right shows the fire areas (source: Los Angeles Times). I made the map on the right a little wider to avoid cutting off the city names. It appears to me that your friend lives around the area where the "210" label is in the fire map. So the fire has crossed the 210 freeway, but your friend may be far enough east to be out of the fire area.
 

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Thank you Doctor Q, that is definitely a scarey looking situation. Besides the damage to homes it's everyone's health. The most affected will be the young, old, and those with prior respiratory problems.
 
Nature had another surprise for us today. I just felt an earthquake. The U.S. Geological Survey says it was at 15:44:48 Pacific time, centered 2.4 miles west-northwest of Simi Valley, CA, which is also one of the fire areas. Early reports peg the earthquake's magnitude from 2.8 to 3.7, not big by California standards.

What's next? Floods? Meteorites?
 
Re: LA is surreal...

Originally posted by DreaminDirector
Yeah, I'm out here in the suburb of LA and the fire is about 10 miles away. The sky's got that eerie orange glow and there's ash and debris all over my truck.

I'm safe, but damn it's just weird.

Good luck down in SD, Rower. That blaze down there is really scary....
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Meh. It was the same way back in April 29, 1992, during the LA Riots.
 
Re: Re: LA is surreal...

Originally posted by Frohickey
Meh. It was the same way back in April 29, 1992, during the LA Riots.
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At over 600,000 acres, and nearly 2,000 structures burned at nearly $2 billion in damage this is just a wee bit bigger than the LA riots.

"Meh", indeed.
 
Originally posted by Rower_CPU
Locusts.
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They certainly would not find much to devour. With the end of October, hopefully the Santa Ana winds wil end soon! I thought there was some reports about increasing moisture, which would be good news.
 
Originally posted by wdlove
They certainly would not find much to devour. With the end of October, hopefully the Santa Ana winds wil end soon! I thought there was some reports about increasing moisture, which would be good news.
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Sorry, forgot the wink. It was a sarcastic reference to biblical disasters. :)
 
Originally posted by Doctor Q
What's next? Floods? Meteorites?
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if we do get a substantial amount of rain, i wouldn't be suprised if flooding occured
 
Originally posted by Rower_CPU
Sorry, forgot the wink. It was a sarcastic reference to biblical disasters. :)
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I'm sorry also don't want to make light of such a seriously sad situation. :(
 
Originally posted by wdlove
I'm sorry also don't want to make light of such a seriously sad situation. :(
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"Laughter is the best medicine". We're almost out of the woods and it's good for people to relieve some stress.
 
Speaking of locusts, the Western bark beetle is partly responsible for the fast pace of the fire in the Lake Arrowhead/Big Bear area, where hundreds of homes have now been lost. The beetles bore into pine trees, spreading fungus that eventually kills the trees, leaving them dry and ready to burn. And floods in the rainy season inevitably follow fires, since the ground vegetation that keeps rain and snow on the hills will be gone. In other words, nature ain't done with us yet.
 
I just saw this map -
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/fires/images/031030frontlines.html

RowerCPU and I drove out to Anza Borrego last January out 8 and up 79 and I remember it being absolutely gorgeous.....

Now I see that all of it has been hit by the fires. :confused: :( :eek: I don't have any pics from the drive (we didn't stop) but it was all wooded, green and lush.

Seeing that map has really hit home the scope of the disaster - its hard sometimes to comprehend the magnitude unless you've actually seen it first hand.

D
 
Yeah, once this all dies down and things are safe again, I'm going to drive out there and get some pictures of the devastation. It should be sobering.

My place is just left of "Diego" in the lower left corner, and mc68k is halfway between the "Santee" and 67 sign.
 
That map is really amazing Mr. Anderson, a great find. It is really sad about the loss of the first fireman in this fire. Any loss of life is sad. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.
 
So does that put mc68k inside the already burnt section? And did he have to get evacuated?

I'd love to see those pics - if you can take one around the lake and one of the peak that we saw on the way out. It was one of the larger ones, don't remember its name, but it stood out.

D
 
Good/bad news (depending on your point of view) for the city of San Diego: U.C. San Diego, and presumably other schools, are back in session as of today. And the air has cleared up quite a bit.

Thanks for the article, wdlove. I always like reading health articles that advise "Avoid exercise". Now I can sit on the sofa eating donuts instead of jogging and claim I'm following a doctor's advice!

Rower_CPU, from what I remember from my one visit to the store, the Fashion Valley Apple store is right near you. Correct?
 
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