The common thread between hurricanes and wildfires? Increasingly strong winds
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Hurricane-force winds have major destructive power that can turn bad situations worse. “There are a lot of people that believe that climate change is happening and real, but not many people believe that they are actually currently experiencing climate change themselves personally. But, they are,” Daniel Gilford, a meteorologist and atmospheric scientist with Climate Central, told The Independent on Friday.
![[An aerial photo shows houses damaged after Hurricane Helene made landfall last September in Horseshoe Beach, Florida. Hurricanes wind speeds are increasing due to climate change]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/18/05/GettyImages-2174213478.jpg)
“The data [is] unclear, I would say, in terms of how climate change might affect Santa Ana winds and those strong, sort of accelerating downslope winds toward the ocean that can really promote that extensive wildfire spread. And, maybe serve as a start to, if you’re knocking down powerlines, infrastructure, things like that, that can ... create those sparks that start a fire,” Andrew Winters, assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Colorado University Boulder, explained.
Winters pointed out that, due to warming from climate change, the position of the upper level jet stream in the northern hemisphere is expected to shift north. The jet stream is a fast-moving ribbon of wind within the atmosphere that can significantly influence weather patterns. The jet stream moving north would focus the potential for precipitation to impact the Pacific Northwest and leave California with the expectation of more dry days in the future.
“And, with those drying conditions, it’s almost like you’re stacking the deck for a catastrophic fire to develop,” ” he said. “So, kind of the footprint from climate change potentially on what we’re seeing in California is really in the context of how climate change can alter the large-scale atmospheric circulation and wind patterns in a way that favors these prolonged drought periods that can contribute to the development of favorable sort of fuel conditions ... that can lead to rapid wildfire growth.”.
