In the last 10 years, the total number of acres burned by significant wildfires has varied from year to year. In 2020, when dry lightning sparked an outbreak of wildfires across Northern California, more than 4.3 million acres burned, but in 2022 and 2023, only about 300,000 acres burned each year. On average, about 1.4 million acres burn a year.

Since 1993, seven of the 10 worst fire years in California, ranked by total acres burned, have occurred after drier-than-normal winters. By contrast, eight of the state’s 10 mildest fire years occurred after wetter-than-normal winters, according to an analysis by the Bay Area News Group and Golden Gate Weather Services, a Half Moon Bay company.

Generally, wet winters lower wildfire risk and dry winters increase it. Northern California received much more rain and snow this winter than Southern California.

The arrival of warmer weather has prompted a warning about wildfires. Large areas of heathland habitat in Dorset have already been destroyed this year due to "human intervention". After two large fires in Upton Heath in April,

Experts say recent changes at FEMA, NOAA and the U.S. Forest Service could make a challenging fire season in California even worse.

The New York Times headline is “California’s Wildfires Could Be Brutal This Summer,” That means more large wildfires

Temperatures are heating up in California and the warm summer months could create a particularly lethal wildfire season, experts have warned