A huge plume of smoke cut Easter Sunday celebrations short for many San Marcos residents.
The two-acre fire forced evacuations near Cal State San Marcos. It was the second fire in the last week to force evacuations in San Diego County.
Meteorologists believe there’s a reason why brush is drying out sooner and why we may be seeing more small fires in early spring across the state, including in San Diego County.
“This winter, we had pretty much winter weather in the early part of the season,” said Ivory Small, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego. “Then, it just abruptly stopped and it went to something that was even worse than summer.”
He said the county experienced “kind of a shock to the system” after going through a record-breaking wet period and then a small, dry spell last month. Many parts of the county had the wettest New Year’s Day on record, but then, “the rain went north and the high pressure and dry weather really set in as if it was August.”
The recent dry and hot weather is starting to dry out grass and vegetation in parts of the county sooner than in average years. Fire officials said if these conditions persist, the wildfires could become more frequent and dangerous.
“The grass is still green in some parts of the county, but it is starting to turn brown,” said Mike Cornette, a fire captain with Cal Fire and San Diego County. "So we will start to see an increased activity of fires and fire growth potential.”
The region is “still outside of that drought parameter,” but residents should find ways to conserve water and help prevent fires, he said.
“We always suggest that our residents look up fire-wise landscaping, water-wise landscaping because we want to be able to conserve that water,” he said. “And make sure that our homes are being safe by creating that defensible space.”
Small said the region may receive much-needed rainfall in the coming weeks.
