Drought danger on fiery display

[unhappycamper]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/may/17/drought-danger-on-fiery-display/



As the sun sets, Monrovia firefighter Harold Kaliman hoses water on a home that burned down as helicopters continue to do water drops in the area on Mount Whitney Road just west of Escondido on Thursday.

Drought danger on fiery display
By Gary Robbins
7 p.m.May 17, 2014

The whump-whump of water-dropping helicopters could become a familiar sound this summer.

Fire season has started several months early. The drought is that bad. And there is no relief in sight.

~snip~

Four years ago, storms rolled through San Diego County like box cars, bringing 22.5 inches of rain. The landscape became lush and squishy. People joked about building arks.

~snip~

Nature has since turned off the tap, sharpening Powell’s point. San Diego got 8.03 inches of rain three years ago, a couple of inches below its historical average. Last year, the city received only 6.50 inches of precipitation. And this year, Lindbergh Field — the official weather station for San Diego — has recorded just 5.06 inches.