Diminished winds on Tuesday allowed for increased containment and limited growth of many fires currently burning in California including the Getty Fire in Los Angeles and the Kincade Fire in Sonoma County. Fire weather conditions are expected to worsen starting Wednesday morning as a near record strength Santa Ana wind event is expected to impact southern California through ... Continue Reading »
wildfires
Weather Sentinel: Ongoing California Wildfire Activity
Ongoing dry and windy conditions across California have hampered containment and suppression efforts of already burning fires and have allowed for rapid growth of newly ignited fires. The Kincade Fire in Sonoma County grew significantly over the weekend due to increased winds, forcing large-scale evacuations. The newly ignited Getty Fire in Los Angeles has forced evacuation ... Continue Reading »
Weather Sentinel: Wildfire Activity in California
Several fires ignited yesterday across the state of California, and grew quickly under extreme fire weather conditions. As of Friday morning, 49 structures have been destroyed in the Kincade Fire, burning in Northern California near Geyserville, while the Tick Fire in Southern California has jumped Hwy 14 and is threatening communities near Santa Clarita. Fire weather c ... Continue Reading »
Weather Sentinel: Southern California Fires and Ongoing Extreme Fire Weather Conditions
Several fires ignited in southern California yesterday during dry and windy conditions. Media reports indicate structures have been destroyed by multiple fires and evacuations remain in place. Extreme fire weather conditions will continue today in southern California meaning already burning fires may exhibit extreme fire behavior leading to difficulty in suppression and ... Continue Reading »
Weather Sentinel: Southern California Extreme Fire Weather Conditions
Extremely critical fire weather conditions are forecast for southern California today with critical fire conditions forecast to persist through at least Friday. Sustained offshore winds of 20-40 miles per hour are expected in portions of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernadino counties with gusts up to 60 miles per hour. Relative humidites are forecast to drop to 5 -15 percent ... Continue Reading »
Weather Sentinel: Significant Wildfire Potential Outlook; October 2019
Wildfire season reached its typical national peak in August, characterized this year by below normal activity in most areas. The low activity was primarily due to monsoon associated precipitation, which brought adequate although not abundant moisture to fire prone areas. The month of September has seen the majority of North America exit wildfire season, which is traditional as ... Continue Reading »
A Risk Overview of Wildfire
Today, the frequency and severity of wildfires are garnering greater attention-not only from the media, but also from (re)insurers, catastrophe modelers, mitigation experts and other invested parties. As the industry searches for better understanding of this dynamic risk, Guy Carpenter’s GC Wildfire Diagnostic (SM) helps carriers differentiate and drive profitable growth u ... Continue Reading »
Weather Sentinel: Significant Wildfire Potential Outlook; August 2019
Moving into the late summer, weather patterns are favoring seasonal dryness in the western United States, where moderate to severe drought is persisting in the Pacific Northwest, and fuels are drying out and becoming receptive to fire. While fire activity has been slightly below average to date in 2019, the outlook is for normal to above normal wildland fire potential in the ... Continue Reading »
As Wildfires Get Costlier and Deadlier, Insurers and Utilities Pay the Price
Rob Bailey, Director of Climate Resilience at Marsh & McLennan Insights Contact The wildfires of 2017 and 2018 have led some to ask whether we have entered a fiery new normal. But the “new normal” framing — the idea that we have reached a new equilibrium — is misleading. Climate change and growing numbers of people and assets in fire prone areas mean there is little ch ... Continue Reading »
