… According to Dr. Josh Fisher, a climate scientist at Chapman University, many factors came together to result in the wildfire moving quickly as it tore up hillsides, moving upwards as it burned through Ventura County neighborhoods. “That fire will spread faster up just because fire moves upwards,” Fisher said. “So, we’ve got these conditions of the topography, the wind and the plants — and also close to roads and human property — all just kind of coming together to make this a lot worse than it could’ve been if the winds were calm, the vegetation was wet.” Friday, wind gusts will relax more. 

Related climate change, drought and weather articles:

• UCLA Newsroom blog: Mountain fire ‘a suburban firestorm’ due to Santa Ana winds
• Reuters: Climate-related ‘one-two punch’ seen driving Los Angeles wildfires
• NBC News: Drought plagues majority of Northeast as dry, windy weather raises fire risk
• NOAA: U.S. had its 2nd-warmest October on record
• Hydro Review: Drought is hampering hydro generation by double-digit percentages in the U.S. this year
• Fox Weather: Earth experiencing warmest year on record – again, scientists say