Southern California is Dangerously Dry for This Time of Year

Southern California is extremely dry right now, with huge portions of the region having seen less than a quarter-inch of rain in the last eight months. The landscape is parched and vegetation is withered, making the area dangerously susceptible to burning, an unusual situation for January.

“The sort of dryness we’re seeing in a lot of the plant species right now mirrors what you would typically expect in October or early November, when the rainy season starts,” said Jonathan O’Brien, a meteorologist with the U.S. Forest Service.

Wildfires are a year-round threat in California. But a good soaking of rain in fall or at the start of winter usually puts an end to the peak part of wildfire season, when the most destructive wildfires typically occur. About two inches of rain is required to saturate the ground and vegetation and significantly lower the wildfire risk. Northern California has received that much and a lot more recently, thanks to a series of powerful storms in November and December.

Southern California generally trends drier than in the north, but the region has usually received a shot or two of rain by the end of December, and certainly by early January. Not this year.

The region’s dry start to winter comes after a summer marked by prolonged, record-breaking heat that baked the landscape and cooked the trees and brush.

The National Weather Service gauge in downtown Los Angeles, a good indicator for rainfall in Southern California, has recorded only 0.29 inches of rain since May 1, 2024. This is second-least amount of rain ever measured in this roughly eight-month time period, with records going back to 1877.