Extremely Low Moisture Levels in California Vegetation May Contribute to Challenging Wildfire Season

Researchers from San Jose State University’s Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center – the only wildfire research center in California – have discovered extremely low levels of fuel-moisture content across the Santa Cruz mountains, a potential indicator of a challenging wildfire season ahead. Fuel-moisture content, or FMC, is a measure of the ratio of moisture to combustible material in plants that indicates how prone they are to burning. When the fuel moisture is high because plants are lush and water-filled, wildfires don’t ignite and spread easily. When it’s low because vegetation is dry, parched, even dead, wildfires start easily and spread rapidly. The researchers’ findings comes a year after California saw its largest wildfire season in modern history, with over 10,000 wildfires tearing through over 4.2 million acres, more than 4 percent of the state’s roughly 100 million acres of land. According to the California Department of Water Resources, the 2020-2021 winter was the third driest on record. The region’s reservoirs are beginning to see the impact and are at half their total capacity. Read more at SFGATE.