October 1st has brought no relief from the heat, across the valley, temperatures reached into the triple digits. Its rare, but not unheard of to reach the century mark so late in the year, but the hot weather could extend our fire season.
After months of hot weather and no rain since mid June, people are starting to wonder if fall will ever grace us with its presence.
With triple digits in October it feels like summer never ends in Redding.
“No it doesn't it seems like summer here lasts for like 7 months, you know, it just goes on forever, it never stops,” said Rick Aquala, a resident of Redding.
While it's not an every year occurrence, reaching 100 degrees or higher isn't unheard of in October.
“It is not unprecedented, probably on the average once every 5-7 years you would have some weather at the end of September early October, that is bumping triple digit heat,” said John Snook, a Fire Weather Meteorologist for the U.S. Forest Service.
But just how much higher are Monday’s temperatures compared the average?
“We are probably close to 15-17 degrees above normal in Redding today, and so you are right to imply that it is hot and dry and more so than normal for this time of year,” said Snook
Snook explains, the hot temperatures could extend the already devastating fire season.
“Yes we have, we have already burned close to 700,000 acres. To give you a comparison, the average over the last 10 years has been closer to 200,000,” said Snook.
But there could be relief in sight; rain is expected to sweep through the north state within a couple of weeks.
“If you are trying to end fire season, or slow it down, it's the first big step. Sometimes there is a big enough event with a good duration to it that one big event can really stop fire season, lots of seasons though, it takes two or three moderate or smaller events in succession,” said Snook.
There is not much burning right now in California that you have to worry about, but with our current conditions, all it will take is a wind and a spark.
