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Windy Fire
The 2021 Windy Fire was a large wildfire in the Sequoia National Forest in Central California's Tulare County. Ignited by a lightning strike in the southern Sierra Nevada on September 9, the fire burned 97,528 acres (39,468 ha) over the course of a month, threatening communities like Ponderosa and Johnsondale. Multiple atmospheric rivers in October and November eventually subdued the fire, which was declared fully contained in mid-November. Total firefighting costs came to $78.4 million. The Windy Fire was the eight-largest fire of California's 2021 wildfire season.
Though it destroyed 128 structures, the Windy Fire was also notable for its major impacts on the endangered giant sequoia population, which grows in less than a hundred natural groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. The National Park Service estimated that the Windy Fire killed 900–1,300 large giant sequoias, part of a significant toll that high-severity wildfires have taken on the species in the 21st century. The KNP Complex Fire, which burned contemporaneously, burned 88,307 acres (35,737 ha) and killed up to 2,400 more large giant sequoias in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The two fires are estimated to have killed as much as 3–5 percent of the total population of large giant sequoias.
The Windy Fire primarily burned within the Giant Sequoia National Monument, a 328,315-acre (132,864 ha) protected portion of the Sequoia National Forest containing dozens of giant sequoia groves.
The Windy Fire area saw many fewer fires in the period between 1970 and 2020 than occurred historically (prior to 1850). According to Christy Brigham, in charge of Resources Management and Science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, more than fifty lightning fires were suppressed in the century or so prior to the fire that she argued could have been managed for beneficial effects in the region's sequoia groves. As fuels built up from the accumulating effects of fire suppression, widespread conifer die-off also occurred between 2012 and 2016. Drought and bark beetle infestations joined forces to kill an "estimated 147 million trees" in California.
California saw its second-driest water year ever in 2020–2021, exceeded in aridity only by that of 1923–1924. It was the driest ever water year on record for the southern Sierra Nevada in particular, with only 9.9 inches (25 cm) of rainfall compared to the region's average of 28.8 inches (73 cm). The summer of 2021 was also California's hottest ever recorded. The prolonged hot and dry conditions, courtesy of a high-pressure system that loitered over the state, contributed to a rash of significant wildfires.
The Washington Post listed the Windy Fire as an example of a wildfire that experienced "significant overnight growth", representative of the climate change-driven increase of the vapor pressure deficit at night in the western United States since 1980. The vapor pressure deficit, a key meteorological variable that drives fire-conducive weather, reached record high levels in California during the Windy Fire.
On the night of September 9, a procession of dry thunderstorms rolled across California. More than 1,100 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were recorded in the state by the following morning, and associated rainfall was not enough to quench some of the small fires left in their wake. Eleven fires started in the Sequoia National Forest and the Giant Sequoia National Monument). The Windy Fire began that night on the Tule River Indian Reservation. The National Interagency Coordination Center reported on the morning of September 11 that the Windy Fire had burned 115 acres (47 ha) in timber and brush, exhibiting "active fire behavior with uphill runs, backing and flanking". By 4:00 p.m. on September 12, the fire had burned onto the Sequoia National Forest, spreading to 450 acres (182 ha). California Incident Management Team 11 entered into unified command over the firefighting response with the Forest Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The fire impacted the Peyrone Grove of giant sequoias by September 13. On September 15, the Forest Service announced a closure order for part of the Sequoia National Forest, effective September 16 until December 31. Overnight, the fire exhibited "significant" spread: in the morning update on the fire for September 16, officials gave the Windy Fire's burned area as 3,924 acres (1,588 ha) and its containment at zero percent. That same day, the fire's eastern flank crossed the Western Divide Highway and its southern flank reached the Long Meadow Grove of giant sequoias.
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Windy Fire
The 2021 Windy Fire was a large wildfire in the Sequoia National Forest in Central California's Tulare County. Ignited by a lightning strike in the southern Sierra Nevada on September 9, the fire burned 97,528 acres (39,468 ha) over the course of a month, threatening communities like Ponderosa and Johnsondale. Multiple atmospheric rivers in October and November eventually subdued the fire, which was declared fully contained in mid-November. Total firefighting costs came to $78.4 million. The Windy Fire was the eight-largest fire of California's 2021 wildfire season.
Though it destroyed 128 structures, the Windy Fire was also notable for its major impacts on the endangered giant sequoia population, which grows in less than a hundred natural groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. The National Park Service estimated that the Windy Fire killed 900–1,300 large giant sequoias, part of a significant toll that high-severity wildfires have taken on the species in the 21st century. The KNP Complex Fire, which burned contemporaneously, burned 88,307 acres (35,737 ha) and killed up to 2,400 more large giant sequoias in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The two fires are estimated to have killed as much as 3–5 percent of the total population of large giant sequoias.
The Windy Fire primarily burned within the Giant Sequoia National Monument, a 328,315-acre (132,864 ha) protected portion of the Sequoia National Forest containing dozens of giant sequoia groves.
The Windy Fire area saw many fewer fires in the period between 1970 and 2020 than occurred historically (prior to 1850). According to Christy Brigham, in charge of Resources Management and Science at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, more than fifty lightning fires were suppressed in the century or so prior to the fire that she argued could have been managed for beneficial effects in the region's sequoia groves. As fuels built up from the accumulating effects of fire suppression, widespread conifer die-off also occurred between 2012 and 2016. Drought and bark beetle infestations joined forces to kill an "estimated 147 million trees" in California.
California saw its second-driest water year ever in 2020–2021, exceeded in aridity only by that of 1923–1924. It was the driest ever water year on record for the southern Sierra Nevada in particular, with only 9.9 inches (25 cm) of rainfall compared to the region's average of 28.8 inches (73 cm). The summer of 2021 was also California's hottest ever recorded. The prolonged hot and dry conditions, courtesy of a high-pressure system that loitered over the state, contributed to a rash of significant wildfires.
The Washington Post listed the Windy Fire as an example of a wildfire that experienced "significant overnight growth", representative of the climate change-driven increase of the vapor pressure deficit at night in the western United States since 1980. The vapor pressure deficit, a key meteorological variable that drives fire-conducive weather, reached record high levels in California during the Windy Fire.
On the night of September 9, a procession of dry thunderstorms rolled across California. More than 1,100 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were recorded in the state by the following morning, and associated rainfall was not enough to quench some of the small fires left in their wake. Eleven fires started in the Sequoia National Forest and the Giant Sequoia National Monument). The Windy Fire began that night on the Tule River Indian Reservation. The National Interagency Coordination Center reported on the morning of September 11 that the Windy Fire had burned 115 acres (47 ha) in timber and brush, exhibiting "active fire behavior with uphill runs, backing and flanking". By 4:00 p.m. on September 12, the fire had burned onto the Sequoia National Forest, spreading to 450 acres (182 ha). California Incident Management Team 11 entered into unified command over the firefighting response with the Forest Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The fire impacted the Peyrone Grove of giant sequoias by September 13. On September 15, the Forest Service announced a closure order for part of the Sequoia National Forest, effective September 16 until December 31. Overnight, the fire exhibited "significant" spread: in the morning update on the fire for September 16, officials gave the Windy Fire's burned area as 3,924 acres (1,588 ha) and its containment at zero percent. That same day, the fire's eastern flank crossed the Western Divide Highway and its southern flank reached the Long Meadow Grove of giant sequoias.