With the current COVID-19 pandemic in mind, it's more important than ever to maintain respiratory health, reduce exposure to smoke and poor air quality. California’s worst fire season on record is about to ramp up as a hot, dry autumn promises even more destruction, blackouts and evacuations. Active fires and extreme fire danger will keep seven national forests, including all in Southern California, closed for at least another week, according to a National Forest Service order Wednesday. Smoke from wildfires can worsen chronic heart and lung diseases as well. While wildfires are a natural part of California’s landscape, the fire season in California and across the West is starting earlier and ending later each year. In the northern end of the state, those winds are called Diablo and in the south Santa Ana. Is Hawaii ready for visitors? “These weather conditions are challenging, and these wind conditions in particular are gonna make the next few days the most challenging perhaps we’ve had so far this year,” Newsom said. Soon, high pressure will build over Nevada and Utah, creating a system of dry winds that will whip through California’s valleys on their way to the Pacific. Explore California, the West and beyond with the weekly Escapes newsletter. For the 10% of you who said coronavirus would have no impact on your travel plans, available airfares are the feast before the feast. “Borat” star Sacha Baron Cohen said on “Good Morning America” that he was concerned for actress Maria Bakalova during her scene with Rudy Giuliani. Now, the state is blanketed in red-flag fire warnings, ahead of a cold-front that will bring dry, blaze-fanning winds. It’s going to get worse in October and November, as a conveyor belt of dry winds whip through the state, amplifying fire risk. 5) Can I do anything to prevent wildfires? Here’s where to watch. Wildfires are predicted to get six times larger in the U.S. within the next 18 years, according to a study conducted by UC Merced's Sierra Nevada Research Institute in 2018. The year of 2020 has been the largest wildfire season recorded in California history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Endorsement: The Times endorses Hoffman, Anderson, Henderson and Han for LACCD. Through Sept. 1, nearly 80% of California was abnormally dry and just over 54% was captured by drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. This month, state has seen some of the biggest fires in over a century, with the LNU and SCU Lightning Complex fires both growing to become the second and third largest wildfires in California history. However, from a historical perspective, the average annual acres burned prior to 1850 were probably significantly larger than years since reliable fire records began. Other predictions point to a very dry winter conditions this fall, with offshore winds increasing fire danger in Southern California. Visitors soon will be again able to drive into Yosemite National Park on short notice. For these superfans, it’s agony, Happy 65th Birthday, Disneyland. Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and other large California theme parks won’t open immediately under protocols announced Tuesday. Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. How to find cheap holiday airfares. California alone could see anywhere from a 10 to 150 percent increase in areas burned by 2039, according to Dave Shew in the 2018 report, staff chief with the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. A home is engulfed in flames during the Creek Fire in Fresno County, Calif., on Sept. 8. In the fall, precipitation and cooler temperatures are expected to arrive. California's fire season traditionally peaks in the fall after the summer heat cooked the landscape and the winds pick up. Endorsements. The volume of smoke coming from the fires ha "Evacuating the forest fire area early also helps firefighters keep roads clear of congestion, and lets them move more freely to do their job," the preparation website recommends. Connect with friends faster than ever with the new Facebook app. Oahu is hanging loose and fighting the pandemic hard. A staggering 2,700 more wildfires have cropped up this year than last, with an additional 1.4 million acres burned from fires that ignited just in August, according to Cal Fire. "In an intense wildfire, they will not have time to knock on every door.". Last August, a blaze in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles was reportedly intentionally set by a pair at a homeless encampment. While 2020’s fires haven’t been as deadly as 2018’s -- which killed 100 people -- they have been the most extensive, burning more acreage than any other year in records going back 30 years. Here are the essential top five things you need to know about the 2020 wildfire season: Fire season typically begins in May and ends in October and is a natural part of life in California with the state's rugged terrain and hot seasons. With a delayed rainy season, fuels could remain drier across most of the state. The Ready for Wildfire site has detailed steps for what to do before, during and after a wildfire. Orionid meteor showers are happening now. She loves tips and stories about running, hiking and anything to do with the outdoors. Day trips around Southern California can make fall a special season, even amid a pandemic. The agency closed all forests in the state on Sept. 9; local forests haven’t reopened since. The National Interagency Fire Center also predicts La Niña conditions this fall, which could deliver a very dry winter in California. Some fires are started by drivers dragging chains or low tire pressure, which can throw sparks that ignite dry brush. How to vote. According to the agency, children breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. California’s most dangerous weather tends to come in the fall, after a hot summer during which the landscape turns to tinder. It is all here. Authorities urged would-be visitors to check individual forest web pages (for specific restrictions), the Cal Fire website (for updates on the blazes in progress) and AirNow or a comparable source (for air-quality readings). 2) What is the 2020 fire season expected to look like in the coming months? Southern California Edison has taken similar precautions in anticipation of a very busy autumn. The exact severity of 2020’s wind storms still cannot be predicted, said Anderson. Air quality, however, remains poor because of smoke and particulates from the fire. Still, destruction could mount with more people living on the edge of wildlands, in harm’s way. The problem is only going to get worse, according to Bendix. To reduce risk, PG&E has been clearing tree limbs away from its power lines in high-fire risk areas, installing stronger poles and covered conductors and putting in place more cameras and weather stations. Wildfires have burned more state acres in 2020 than any other year on record. The length of fire season has increased by about 75 days across the Sierras and seems to correspond with an increase in the extent of forest fires across the state, according to Cal Fire. There are a number of steps you can take to prepare for an extended wildfire season. If they catch a spark they can ignite hell. On Tuesday the utility warned it might impose its own preventative power cuts affecting 54,500 customers. The CDC also adds that children are more likely to be affected by smoke as their airways are still developing. I’m so glad you’re closed. Farther north, Eldorado, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta-Trinity, Stanislaus and Tahoe are open to varying degrees. As of October 9, 2020, a total of 8,320 fires have burned 4,267,386 acres (1,726,950 hectares), more than 4% of the state's roughly 100 million acres of land, making 2020 the largest wildfire season recorded in California's modern history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.