Wildfire — Santa Lucia Mountains and Los Padres National Forest, California

2020-09-01 to 2020-09-04 · Santa Lucia Mountains and Los Padres National Forest, California

Event narrative

The River Fire continued to burn through early September. A total of 48,088 acres burned with 30 structures destroyed, 13 damaged, and 4 injuries https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/16/river-fire/.

Wider weather episode

Continued periods of gusty offshore winds, dry conditions, and hot to record breaking temperatures allowed the August lightning fires to burn throughout the month of September. Persistent dry conditions across the hills and above normal temperatures made fire fighting efforts difficult with relatively poor humidity recoveries for much of the month.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 918121. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.