January 24, 2025
3 Small reading
The rain burns Los Angeles and brings the risk of itself
It is expected that it will rain this weekend in the Los Angeles area, and the fire that has continued throughout this month may take a break, but the risk of landslide increases.
On January 15, 2025, on the backdrop of the city of Los Angeles, you can see the trees burned by the Parisese fire from Will Rogers State Park.
The Los Angeles area has been tossed by fire and wind this month, but this weekend, the third element, water will be added.
According to Crystan Land, a meteorist at the Los Angeles Office of the National Meteorological Bureau, it is expected to start on Saturday afternoon as early as the rain and last late on Monday. Experts are carefully monitoring the situation because the rain itself needs to be urgent, but in areas that have recently been burned down, the rain itself is dangerous, especially the landslides and similar danger.
“It was so dry that it was okay to rain,” Land says. “However, if it rains more intensely or a thunderstorm, it will actually be more dangerous because debris flow may occur.”
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On January 12, 2025, the hill was burned down in the Parisseese fire after the paricace fire in the Mandevil Canyon district of Los Angeles, California.
Via Kyle Grilot/Bloomberg, Getty Image
The fire has a variety of impacts on the landscape, and the burning substances, soils, and remains may be incapacitated and the risk of flying can be increased.
If the fire continues to burn high or long enough, there will be an invisible wax -like substance layer just below the surface of the ground. This occurs when the leaves and other organic substances, which are originally hydrophobic or water -repellent compounds, are decomposed. The fire evaporates the deciduous leaves, resulting in the resulting gas penetrating the upper part of the soil, which quickly cools and condensed, and forms a slippery layer.
When it rains on the ground affected by this phenomenon, the rain can not sink beyond the hydrophobic layer, so the water flows away and often carries rubble together. “All the burning trees and branches, unfortunately, unfortunately, when it rains, they just drift,” Land says. “It’s really anxious.”
Daniel Tomoma, a climate scientist at Austin School, Texas, pointed out that even a fire that was not serious enough to form a hydrophobic layer could cause debris flow. In the normal state, trees and other plants take some rain on the surface and delay the descent of the water. However, in newly burning land, the greenery that gets in the way is much less. All rains hit the ground immediately.
And healthy plants hold the soil together with the roots, but the thin roots, which are mostly responsible for their functions, can be easily burned by fire. “In other words, there are all these loose soil that can be carried by water,” says Toma.
Land points out that the largest fires of the Los Angeles area this month caused a new burn mark of about 50,000 acres, and some of the traces are in the mountainous areas where landslides are likely to collapse. According to the current forecast, Most of the rain will be less than one -quarter per hour per hour, that is, the risk of debris flow will increase. However, this area may be hit by a thunderstorm with a 10 to 20 % probability this weekend, and a short time of sudden rain will fall, which may cause heavy rain that causes the flow.
Fortunately, the rain should be useful for the firefighters to calm the fire that is still working. The largest Palisese fire is currently extinguishing 77 %. The second largest Eaton fire is contained 95%. The fuse fire is the third largest, with only 56% of the fire extinguishing. The fire continues to burn even if the fire is completely extinguished. The containment rate refers to the amount of barriers that the firefighters are expected to prevent further diffusion.
Rain this weekend may have a temporary rest, but it doesn’t mean the danger of the wildfire in this area. “Unfortunately, we need almost a wide range of damage to 2-3 inch damage to really end the so -called high fire season,” Lund says. “It will help, but I can’t get out of the season when there are many fires.”
Even if the fire does not burn, the dangers of the debris flow will remain and will remain far beyond the next few weeks. According to Lund, the debris flow is most concerned within the first two years of the fire, but may occur for a longer time after the burn marks were formed. Tooma says that the restoration of a fire includes a place where the dangers of debris flow are at the highest risk and what they can do to protect people in such areas. “Even if the storm has left and nothing happens, there is something to do. I don’t know what was clear yet.”
Generally, Mr. Toma’s research is that the climate change progresses, and as the warm atmosphere can hold and supply a large amount of water, this scenario (recent fire situation and heavy rain following it) is increasingly common in the future. It indicates that it will be. “In terms of weather conditions, it is expected that such a debris flow after the fire will occur in the future,” said Touma.
