California’s wet winter fueled flowers, but will also fuel wildfires
In California’s Central Valley, vibrant wildflower blooms are drying into brittle fuel for wildfires. Now land managers and property owners are under deadlines to clear brush and mitigate risk before peak fire season later this year. The state’s wet winter, which saw nearly two years-worth of precipitation, resulted in a so-called super bloom blanketing the low hills of the state’s valleys with yellow fiddlenecks, purple lupine and orange California poppies. Tourists flocked from all over the U.S. and the world to see them, and satellite photos even captured their colorful streaks from space.