California has always had fires that are driven by critical fire weather,” the retired fire chief added, but shifting weather patterns are making wildfires more intense. “T

Fire officials are still investigating the precise cause of the deadly, fast-moving, wind-driven infernos near Los Angeles. However, one significant factor has intensified the flames and facilitated their rapid spread: the weather.

As climate change warms the planet, wildfires have become so unpredictable and extreme that new words were invented: firenado, gigafire, fire siege — even fire pandemic. California has 78 more annual “fire days” — when conditions are ripe for fires to spark — than 50 years ago.