Multiple wildfires prompted evacuations in California and Arizona over the weekend after quickly charring more than 1,500 acres of land.
Hundreds of thousands of acres have burned in the region as a drought continues to grip the area amid rising temperatures.
A strengthening heat wave is expected to worsen in the coming days with nearly 55 million people across the West — including in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Phoenix — under heat alerts.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 833,479 acres have burned across the US in 26,833 fires from January 1 until June 11, compared to the same time period last year, when 658,069 acres were scorched in 20,731 fires.
California has already faced nearly twice the acreage burned this year compared to last year by last week, with 2,733 fires burning 12,540 from January 1, 2021 through June 6, 2021, compared to January 1, 2020 through June 6, 2020, when 6,353 acres were burned in 2,025 fires.
By Sunday, Cal Fire’s website showed that number had grown to 17,273 acres scorched in 3,151 incidents.
See pics and read the rest here: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/14/weather/california-arizona-wildfires/index.html