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

Record dry fuels along with building high pressure and a hot airmass allowed for the development of the Willow Fire in the Ventana Wilderness in Monterey County. The fire was fully contained on July 11th and burned over 2800 acres https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7549/.

Strong high pressure over the Four Corners brought a hot and dry air mass to the Central Coast and Bay Area in mid June. Hot daytime temperatures for multiple days in the triple digits resulted in record breaking heat for the interior portion of the region. Higher elevation areas reported daytime highs in the 100s with overnight lows in the 70s and 80s. Several sites broke daily record highs on June 17th. The heat lasted into the start of that coming weekend and resulted in one fatality in San Jose. Additionally, persistent hot/dry conditions along with near record dry fuels allowed for the development of the Willow Fire in Monterey County.