Not getting any better in New Mexico either
❝ June Gloom season is upon Southern California. For as long as anyone can remember, that’s meant clouds wrapping the landscape in a milky white cocoon as cool, moist ocean air known as the marine layer moves inland. But as with everything in our world, this is now changing.
June — and summer as a whole, it turns out — is becoming less cloudy in parts of Southern California. Great for your garden perhaps, but new research shows the trend is also increasing the risk of wildfires, which are on everyone’s mind after last year’s record-setting Thomas Fire. The findings could add a key variable for firefighters and meteorologists to look at to gauge how bad fire conditions will get in a given year.
❝ The research…uses a novel approach of looking at sky observations taken continuously at airports and military airfields from San Diego to Santa Barbara since the 1970s, and linking them up with weather observations. Specifically, the researchers were looking for the occurrence of stratus clouds, which tend to hang out lower as part of the marine layer and keep things cool.
The data shows that stratus cloud cover from May-September has declined 25-50 percent across a number of sites in Southern California owing to the growing urban heat island and climate change. All this extra heat causes the clouds to dissipate or form in areas with less of a cooling impact…
❝ All that extra sunlight coming in is causing more evaporation. Figuring out how much the ground and vegetation are drying out is the key to understanding the relationship between cloud loss and fire conditions.
Interesting article whether you live in wildfire country or not. One more change to the negative side of climate equations. Ignored by flat-earthers and their ilk.
Eideard 
Two new studies help illustrate the future of wildfire on the Western landscape. One team of researchers found that some forests aren’t regenerating after wildfires. A second group forecasts that up to five times as much land may burn as was consumed by fires over the last 20 years. http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/environment/fires/article211701059.html
As wildfires burn across Colorado, especially in the southwest part of the state enduring “exceptional drought,” a water expert says conditions fueling the blazes have been the norm for a while—and will be for a long time to come. http://www.westword.com/news/colorado-drought-and-416-fire-june-2018-10412776
“Contracts tie up SuperTanker; firefighting aircraft heading to California instead of Colorado” https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/wildfire/colorado-global-supertanker-heading-to-california-to-help-in-firefighting-efforts Global SuperTanker Services LLC’s Boeng 747-400 firefighting Supertanker, the world’s largest firefighting plane, is capable of delivering multiple payload drops thanks to pressurized tanks that hold a total of 19,200 gallons of water, fire retardant or suppressant. The aircraft can make up to eight drops in a single flight.
“We’ve entered the era of ‘fire tsunamis’ (Colorado July 5, 2018) “https://grist.org/article/weve-entered-the-era-of-fire-tsunamis/ “…It was a perfect firestorm,” Ben Brack, incident commander for the Spring Creek fire, told the Denver Post. “You can imagine standing in front of a tsunami or tornado and trying to stop it from destroying homes. A human response is ineffective.”
Pyrocumulus clouds, a sure indicator of intense heat release from wildfire, were clearly visible from 100 miles away. The fire is just five percent contained and covers more than 100,000 acres — larger than the city limits of Denver — making it the third-largest wildfire in state history.”
‘”I had no idea the flames could go that fast’: Goleta devastated by fire as record heat burns path of destruction” http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-fires-heat-wave-20180707-story.html
“All-time record heat fuels California wildfires as thousands forced to evacuate” (7/7/18) https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/all-time-record-heat-fuels-california-wildfires-as-thousands-forced-to-evacuate/70005423
“Some 3,400 firefighters on the ground and in helicopters and airplanes battled the 48,300-acre (19,500 hectares) Carr Fire early on Saturday as it ripped through Redding, a city of 90,000 people, in California’s scenic Shasta-Trinity area. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wildfires/monster-wildfire-in-california-rages-on-after-killing-two-firefighters-idUSKBN1KI05B
More than 38,000 residents in Redding and elsewhere in Shasta County fled their homes as the fire began to gain speed and intensity on Thursday, destroying 500 structures and leaving Keswick, a town of 450, in smoldering ruins, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) said.
The flames erupted into a firestorm on Thursday when it jumped across the Sacramento River and swept into the western side of Redding, about 150 miles (240 km) north of Sacramento, before gale-force winds during the night created a fire “tornado,” fire officials said.
California has had its worst start to the fire season in a decade, with 289,727 acres burned through Friday morning, according to National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) data.”