I want to bring up one very important point about the California wildfire emergency. We are finally not distracted from the big picture and can focus on the real issue...weather and climate. Let's discuss. THREAD

Almost every time a fire breaks out...or multiple fires in California we gravitate to the cause. The ignition point...what happened and how can we prevent it from happening again. 2/

This makes sense in the moment. If we are having an issue with multiple roadside fires maybe mowing and vegetation control near roads is an issue we need to address. Or power lines, or arson, or campfires etc. 3/

We can go on and on about the initial start and then spend all our time on that, and not what is really going on.If you ask any fire official WORLDWIDE that has been in the game for a few decades they will tell you the same thing,they have never seen such extreme fire behavior 4/

Preceding almost every major fire,is a major weather event. Hot, dry, and windy weather will take any fire to the next level. The point of ignition DOES matter and we should do everything we can to address them. However as we saw with lightning in CA, you can't stop it all. 5/

What we just saw in California was a truly HISTORIC weather event. 6 days of EXTREME heat that we have not seen in decades. A new world record of 130 degrees in Death Valley CA. And regional heat for all western states at the same time. 6/

At the same time we saw a rare outbreak of dry lightning from thunderstorms connected to a decaying tropical system...bad timing and bad luck but it illustrates the background issue we are facing. 7/

As we continue to warm, decade after decade, it's more likely we will see these extreme heat events, and they will last longer. This stretches the fire calendar out for many more months, puts many more locations into dangerous fire zones, and increases the chances for fire 8/

In this case it was natural ignition, but we are in the same spot...extreme fire behavior, and growth that far exceeds any ability for containment in the first few days. It is a fact that if we eliminate all of the known problems for ignition...we will still see extreme fire 9/

This will happen because we keep seeing extreme heat, and dry windy patterns emerge. We can't stop lightning, we can't stop accidental human caused ignition. We need to pay attention to the base fire conditions that are more frequent and extreme than ever END.