For the past week for Los Angeles residents, temperatures soared up into the triple digits. The intense weather caused multiple power outages from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. It left 16,000 without power. According to a KTLA 5 article, the affected areas were from San Dimas to the San Fernando Valley. The Los Angeles Department of Power and Water recorded a new high in energy use of 6,048 megawatts being consumed on Tuesday alone. On Wednesday, it increased even more.
To make matters worse, a brush fire started on Friday afternoon that closed down the 210 freeway. It grew to 5,000 acres in the Verdugo mountains. The Los Angeles Fire Department ordered evacuations in surrounding areas. According to another article by the Los Angeles Times, Margaret Stewart, the spokeswoman for LAFD, said that a wind shift at 2:00 p.m. sent embers flying across the freeway into the dry bush on the other side, sparking another fire. By 9:30 p.m. the fire quadrupled and spread in different directions.
The fire still continues into its third day, however, after some thunderstorms that occurred throughout Sunday, the fire should have calmed down a bit. There is some chance for more rain on Monday as well so hopefully, that can help in stopping the fires.
The weather these past few days have gone from record breaking temperatures to thunderstorms. We have yet to see what else mother nature has in store for us for the rest of the year.
