You’re looking at your phone in January, and instead of photos of snow-covered mountains or rainy streets in San Francisco, you see a familiar, haunting orange glow. It feels wrong. Winter is supposed to be the "wet season," right?
Honestly, the sight of a massive plume of smoke rising over the Santa Monica Mountains while the rest of the country is digging out of snowdrifts is jarring. But here we are. In the last few years—and specifically following the catastrophic January 2025 firestorm that ripped through Los Angeles County—the question of why are there fires in California in winter has shifted from a curiosity to a survival concern.
It isn’t just "bad luck." It’s a specific, dangerous cocktail of meteorology, biology, and a changing climate that has essentially deleted the "off-season" for firefighters.
The "Devil Winds" Meet a Parched Landscape
Basically, the most immediate culprit for winter fires in Southern California is the Santa Ana winds. These aren't your average breezes. They are katabatic winds—meaning they are heavy, cold air from the high deserts of the Great Basin that spills over the mountains toward the coast.
As that air drops in elevation, it compresses. Physics dictates that when you compress air, it heats up and dries out. By the time those gusts hit places like Altadena or Malibu, they can be over 100 mph, with humidity levels dropping into the single digits.
But winds alone don't start fires. They just turn small sparks into monsters.
Historically, by the time the Santa Anas reached their peak in December and January, California would have already seen a few "atmospheric rivers" dump enough rain to soak the brush. Not anymore. In the lead-up to the 2025 fires, LAX recorded a meager 0.15 inches of rain over several months. The landscape was basically a tinderbox waiting for a reason to burn.
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The "Green Fire" Paradox
You might remember 2023 and 2024 being incredibly wet. There were floods, full reservoirs, and "superblooms." You’d think all that water would prevent fires.
Kinda the opposite, actually.
Those heavy rains triggered an explosion of growth—grasses and invasive weeds that shot up several feet high. Fire scientists call this "fuel loading." When the rain stops and a record-breaking summer heatwave hits, all that lush greenery dies and turns into "fine fuels."
Think of it like this:
- The Big Logs: Take a long time to dry out and a long time to ignite.
- The Dead Grass: Dries out in a matter of days and ignites like gasoline.
When you have two years of massive growth followed by a bone-dry autumn, you aren't looking at a forest; you're looking at a giant pile of kindling. When the 2025 Palisades Fire re-ignited from smoldering embers, it didn't just crawl—it sprinted through that dry brush.
Who Is Lighting the Match?
If there's no "dry lightning" in the winter (which is usually a summer mountain phenomenon), where do these fires come from?
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The answer is us.
Almost every single winter wildfire in California is human-caused. It’s a sparking power line, a tossed cigarette, an illegal campfire, or even arson. In the case of the Eaton Fire in January 2025, investigators pointed toward a "zombie power line"—a decommissioned Southern California Edison line that was re-energized when high winds pushed it into a live one.
We’ve built our homes right into the "Wildland-Urban Interface" (WUI). This means the places where we live are now shoulder-to-shoulder with the most flammable ecosystems on earth, like the chaparral.
Why the 2025 Fires Changed the Conversation
Experts like Daniel Swain from UCLA and John Abatzoglou from UC Merced have been sounding the alarm on a phenomenon called "climate whiplash."
This is the rapid swing between record-breaking wet years and record-breaking droughts. In early 2026, we are seeing the data confirm that the "window" for safe prescribed burns—the controlled fires used to clear out brush—is shrinking. It’s either too wet to burn or so dry and windy that a "controlled" fire would be too dangerous to start.
The Role of La Niña
We can't ignore the Pacific Ocean. During La Niña years—which we’ve seen cycle through recently—the jet stream tends to push storms further north, leaving Southern California high and dry.
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When La Niña couples with global warming, the atmosphere becomes "thirstier." It sucks moisture out of the soil and plants at an accelerated rate. A study from World Weather Attribution (WWA) found that human-induced warming made the fire weather conditions of the 2025 winter fires about 35% more likely.
It’s a feedback loop that doesn't care what the calendar says.
Practical Steps for the "New Normal"
If you live in California, the idea of a "fire season" is officially dead. It’s now a "fire year."
You shouldn't wait for July to clear your defensible space. If the Santa Ana winds are in the forecast, the risk is present, regardless of whether you're wearing a sweater or a t-shirt.
- Hardening the home: Focus on the "embers." Most homes in the 2025 fires didn't burn from a wall of flame; they burned because wind-blown embers got into attic vents or under decks. Install 1/8-inch metal mesh over vents.
- The 5-foot rule: Honestly, the first five feet around your house are the most critical. No mulch, no woody bushes, and definitely no "juniper torches" under your windows. Use gravel or pavers instead.
- Red Flag awareness: When the National Weather Service issues a Red Flag Warning in January, take it seriously. Avoid using outdoor power tools and make sure your "Go Bag" is accessible.
- Air Quality: Winter fires create a unique health hazard because the smoke gets trapped under temperature inversions. Keep a stock of N95 masks and HEPA air filters ready for the indoors.
The reality of why are there fires in California in winter is a mix of natural wind cycles getting "supercharged" by a drier atmosphere and a landscape that has been primed by years of extreme weather swings. It's a complex, messy situation, but understanding that the risk is year-round is the first step in staying safe.
Next Steps for Protection
- Check your local Fire Safe Council for free home ignition zone assessments.
- Update your emergency alerts on your phone to include "Wireless Emergency Alerts" (WEA) for your specific county.
- Review your homeowners' or renters' insurance policy specifically for "replacement cost" coverage, as construction costs in California have surged following recent disasters.