Judson Jones

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You know, a lot of this actually begins all the way back in the summer. Usually, in this area of the world, the summer months, it's typically drier in Southern California. By the fall and into the winter, you start to kind of get these patterns where you get a little bit more rain. But it's been parched. Like, the vegetation is crisp, and that's because they have... seen hardly any rain.

You know, a lot of this actually begins all the way back in the summer. Usually, in this area of the world, the summer months, it's typically drier in Southern California. By the fall and into the winter, you start to kind of get these patterns where you get a little bit more rain. But it's been parched. Like, the vegetation is crisp, and that's because they have... seen hardly any rain.

This winter, we haven't seen this precipitation in Southern California. So it's basically like kindling for a fire. And then you get the Santa Ana winds. These are winds that, you know, Hollywood has romanticized, you know, in movies from the past, and they happen every winter. But when you have these dry conditions and you haven't had that rainfall in the fall,

This winter, we haven't seen this precipitation in Southern California. So it's basically like kindling for a fire. And then you get the Santa Ana winds. These are winds that, you know, Hollywood has romanticized, you know, in movies from the past, and they happen every winter. But when you have these dry conditions and you haven't had that rainfall in the fall,

Yeah, the Santa Ana winds are really winds that kind of come out of the north-northeast. And it happens because the atmosphere has this thing called high pressure. You've probably all seen the H's and the L's on weather maps historically. With wind, wind moves towards low pressure.

Yeah, the Santa Ana winds are really winds that kind of come out of the north-northeast. And it happens because the atmosphere has this thing called high pressure. You've probably all seen the H's and the L's on weather maps historically. With wind, wind moves towards low pressure.

And so you get this higher pressure in the western part of the U.S., and then you have some lower pressure off the ocean. And so that high pressure is sitting there, and it's trying to get to the low pressure. And so what it does is it actually pushes through the mountains. And in this case, it was...

And so you get this higher pressure in the western part of the U.S., and then you have some lower pressure off the ocean. And so that high pressure is sitting there, and it's trying to get to the low pressure. And so what it does is it actually pushes through the mountains. And in this case, it was...

the pressure difference was so strong that it was actually, the wind is crashing into the mountains. So kind of like how a wave hits a rock and crashes over, we're seeing that wind, you know, 50 miles per hour or even higher, crash into the mountains and come up over the other sides.

the pressure difference was so strong that it was actually, the wind is crashing into the mountains. So kind of like how a wave hits a rock and crashes over, we're seeing that wind, you know, 50 miles per hour or even higher, crash into the mountains and come up over the other sides.

Well, initially, you needed ignition. And that's what we saw Tuesday morning. There was some kind of spark somewhere by somebody or something, right? Like these things can happen because someone just flicked a cigarette out their window and it caught on fire by grass. You can also get this just because someone's chain connected to their trailer going down the highway creates a spark.

Well, initially, you needed ignition. And that's what we saw Tuesday morning. There was some kind of spark somewhere by somebody or something, right? Like these things can happen because someone just flicked a cigarette out their window and it caught on fire by grass. You can also get this just because someone's chain connected to their trailer going down the highway creates a spark.

it doesn't take much with these dry conditions to get a fire going. And then when the winds, as we saw yesterday, started to increase in intensity, these little sparks turned into raging fires. The Eaton Fire exploded Wednesday morning in size, and that had a lot to do with because there were wind gusts near that area of 100 miles per hour. Wow.