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(Redirected from 2014 California wildfire season)
For the swarm of large wildfires that were ablaze in San Diego County, California
during May 2014, see May 2014 San Diego County wildfires.
2014 California wildfires

Satellite image of the wildfires in Southern California and Baja California, on May
15, 2014.
Statistics[1][2][3][4][5]
Total fires 7,865
Total area 625,540 acres (2,531 km2)[6]
Cost At least $204.05 million (2014 USD)
Deaths 4 confirmed
Non-fatal injuries At least 146
Season
← 20132015 →
2014 saw several notable wildfires igniting in California, especially during the
month of May, when multiple fires were ablaze concurrently in Southern California,
and during September, when several massive wildfires were burning in Northern
California. In the context of the 2012–13 North American drought (especially the
2011–17 California drought), as well as powerful Santa Ana winds, weather
conditions were ideal for wildfires. A total of 7,865 wildfires ignited throughout
the year, which burned at least 625,540 acres (2,531.5 km2) of land.[4][6] The
wildfires caused a total of 146 injuries and 2 fatalities, in addition to causing
at least $204.05 million (2014 USD) in damage.

The season began unusually early when a wildfire ignited on January 1, followed by
6 more fires igniting later within the same month. During a heat wave and dry Santa
Ana conditions in May 2014, multiple wildfires broke out simultaneously in San
Diego County, along with several other wildfires elsewhere in California. By mid-
May, fire officials said they had already dealt with 1,400 wildfires in California
in 2014 - twice the normal amount for that time of year - and a spokesman for CAL
FIRE described the conditions as "unprecedented."[7] The May 2014 San Diego County
wildfires were estimated to have caused at least $60 million (2014 USD) in damage.
[3] In late June to early August, another group of wildfires ignited across the
state, some of which reached over twenty thousand acres in size. In mid-September,
the largest group of wildfires erupted, with some wildfires becoming larger than
50,000 acres in size. In early September 2014, the Happy Complex Fire became the
largest wildfire of the season, eventually topping out at 135,369 acres (54,782 ha)
in size on September 27. On October 8, an aerial tanker crashed during a
firefighting effort at the Dog Rock Fire, which killed the pilot and sparked a
small wildfire.[2] From late September to late October, the latest flare-up of
major wildfires were extinguished by cooler weather and precipitation.

From December 10–13, a powerful winter storm extinguished the remaining wildfires
that were present. In mid-December through late December, several more small
wildfires sparked, but they were all extinguished by December 31.

In 2014, a study examined the human role in growing California wildfire risks.[8]
The paper is titled "Extreme fire season in California: A glimpse into the future?"
It was published as the second chapter of "Explaining Extreme Events of 2014", by
the American Meteorological Society.[9] The authors also projected into the future,
and the predicted results showed increases in the drought index, the area under
extreme threat of fires, and the days of fire danger, stating that, "The increase
in extreme fire risk is expected within the coming decade to exceed that of natural
variability and this serves as an indication that anthropogenic climate warming
will likely play a significant role in influence California’s fire season."[9]
Fires
Below is a list of all fires that exceeded 1,000 acres (400 ha) during the 2014
California wildfire season, as well as the fires that caused significant damage.
[10] The list is taken from CAL FIRE's list of large fires.

Name County Acres Km2 Start Date Containment Date Notes Ref
Soda Tulare 1,612 6.5 January 14, 2014 February 15, 2014 [10]
Colby Los Angeles 1,952 7.9 January 16, 2014 January 21, 2014 15 structures
destroyed [11]
Etiwanda San Bernardino 2,200 8.9 April 30, 2014 May 9, 2014 [12]
Bernardo San Diego 1,548 6.3 May 13, 2014 May 17, 2014 [13]
Tomahawk San Diego 5,367 21.7 May 14, 2014 May 19, 2014 [14]
Poinsettia San Diego 600 2.4 May 14, 2014 May 17, 2014 28
structures destroyed [15]
Cocos San Diego 1,995 8.1 May 14, 2014 May 22, 2014 40 structures
destroyed [16]
Pulgas San Diego 14,416 58.3 May 15, 2014 May 21, 2014
[17]
San Mateo San Diego 1,457 5.9 May 16, 2014 May 20, 2014 [18]
Shirley Kern 2,545 10.3 June 13, 2014 June 22, 2014 2 structures
destroyed [19]
Stony Monterey 4,840 19.6 June 19, 2014 June 22, 2014 [10]
Butts Napa 4,300 17.4 July 1, 2014 July 9, 2014 9 structures destroyed,
2 civilian fatalities [20]
Modoc July Complex Modoc 2,566 10.4 July 1, 2014 July 7, 2014
[10]
Monticello Yolo 6,488 26.3 July 4, 2014 July 12, 2014 [21]
Bully Shasta 12,661 51.2 July 11, 2014 July 28, 2014 20
structures destroyed

Although the winds often have a destructive nature, they have some benefits as
well. They cause cold water to rise from below the surface layer of the ocean,
bringing with it many nutrients that ultimately benefit local fisheries. As the
winds blow over the ocean, sea surface temperatures drop about 4°C (7°F),
indicating the upwelling. Chlorophyll concentrations in the surface water go from
negligible, in the absence of winds, to very active at more than 1.5 milligrams per
cubic meter in the presence of the winds.[5]

Local maritime impacts

During the Santa Ana winds, large ocean waves can develop. These waves come from a
northeasterly direction toward the normally sheltered sides of the Channel Islands,
including commonly visited Catalina and Santa Cruz islands. Normally well-sheltered
harbors and anchorages such as Avalon and Two Harbors can develop high surf and
strong winds that can tear boats from their moorings. During Santa Ana conditions,
it is advised that boaters moor on the Southern side of affected islands or return
to the mainland.[18]

Related phenomena
Santa Ana fog
A Santa Ana fog is a derivative phenomenon in which a ground fog settles in coastal
Southern California at the end of a Santa Ana wind episode. When Santa Ana
conditions prevail, with winds in the lower two to three kilometers (1.25-1.8
miles) of the atmosphere from the north through east, the air over the coastal
basin is extremely dry, and this dry air extends out over offshore waters of the
Pacific Ocean. When the Santa Ana winds cease, the cool and moist marine layer may
re-form rapidly over the ocean if conditions are right. The air in the marine layer
becomes very moist and very low clouds or fog occurs.[19][20] If wind gradients
turn on-shore with enough strength, this sea fog is blown onto the coastal areas.
This marks a sudden and surprising transition from the hot, dry Santa Ana
conditions to cool, moist, and gray marine weather, as the Santa Ana fog can blow
onshore and envelop cities in as quickly as fifteen minutes. However, a true Santa
Ana fog is rare, because it requires conditions conducive to rapid re-forming of
the marine layer, plus a rapid and strong reversal in wind gradients from off-shore
to on-shore winds. More often, the high pressure system over the Great Basin, which
caused the Santa Ana conditions in the first place, is slow to weaken or move east
across the United States. In this more usual case, the Santa Ana winds cease, but
warm, dry conditions under a stationary air mass continue for days or even weeks
after the Santa Ana wind event ends.

A related phenomenon occurs when the Santa Ana condition is present but weak,
allowing hot dry air to accumulate in the inland valleys that may not push all the
way to sea level. Under these conditions auto commuters can drive from the San
Fernando Valley where conditions are sunny and warm, over the low Santa Monica
Mountains, to plunge into the cool cloudy air, low clouds, and fog characteristic
of the marine air mass. This and the "Santa Ana fog" above constitute examples of
an air inversion.

Sundowner winds
Main article: Sundowner (wind)
The similar winds in the Santa Barbara and Goleta area occur most frequently in the
late spring to early summer, and are strongest at sunset, or "sundown"; hence their
name: sundowner. Because high pressure areas usually migrate east, changing the
pressure gradient in Southern California to the northeast, it is common for
"sundowner" wind events to precede Santa Ana events by a day or two.[21]

Historical impact

Hygrometer showing low humidity during a Santa Ana wind event

The Santa Ana winds and the accompanying raging wildfires have been a part of the
ecosystem of the Los Angeles Basin for over 5,000 years, dating back to the
earliest habitation of the region by the Tongva and Tataviam peoples.[22] The Santa
Ana winds have been recognized and reported in English-language records as a
weather phenomenon in Southern California since at least the mid-nineteenth
century.[1] During the Mexican–American War, Commodore Robert Stockton reported
that a "strange, dust-laden windstorm" arrived in the night while his troops were
marching south through California in January 1847.[5] Various episodes of hot, dry
winds have been described over this history as dust storms, hurricane-force winds,
and violent north-easters, damaging houses and destroying f