Can't believe I'm reading this
At this time of the year.
Los Angeles: Firefighters are scrambling to corral a fast-moving bushfire in the Los Angeles hillsides dotted with celebrity homes as a potentially “life-threatening, destructive” windstorm hit southern California, fanning the blaze seen for kilometres while traffic out of the area was jammed as residents tried to flee.
Fires raged across an upscale section of the city, sending large billows of smoke over much of the metropolitan area and causing traffic jams as 30,000 people were told to flee their homes under evacuation orders.
At least 510 hectares of the Pacific Palisades area between Santa Monica and Malibu have burnt, officials said, after they had already warned of extreme fire danger from dry, powerful winds. The size of the fire grew sixfold in a matter of hours.
Near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway, two hybrid vehicles burnt while firefighters battled a large blaze just up the hill and others barricaded their station by parking firetrucks out front.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/la-residents-flee-fire-as-potentially-life-threatening-destructive-winds-gain-strength-20250108-p5l2rg.html
Archive: https://archive.md/MpgkF
It's January ffs. What's happening to the world.
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This one’s later than normal, but not unheard of, particularly when you get strong offshore winds from the desert.
Rainy season (all three or four days of it 
) usually doesn’t arrive until February.
Characterised by a 'tongue' of cool air extending along the equator into the pacific. It brings rain to SE Australia and drought to the west cost US. Conversely, El Nino brings drought to us here in SE Oz and flooding rains to west coast USA.
In the image it's coming thru the Galapagos in a Westerly direction. It's eased off a bit since December - it was much more distinct. On the legend, SST stands for sea surface temp. You can see the base globe/map at https://earth.nullschool.net . Click 'Earth' lower left for the menu.
Right now, we in Oz are in our fourth La Nina in five years. That would mean the opposite for west coast USA. A real drought.
