Lilac Fire in Fallbrook, California

December 12, 2017

Lilac Wildfire_7P7A0031 (1)

Photographer: Mark Ritter
Summary Authors: Mark Ritter; Jim Foster

December 2017 Viewer's ChoiceThe photo above shows the Lilac Wildfire, near San Diego, California, as observed during the afternoon of December 7, 2017. This fire erupted the morning of the 7th and by the time the photo was snapped approximately 500 acres had been consumed, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents in the fire's path. As of Sunday (10th), nearly 200 homes had been destroyed and over 4,000 acres burned. Dry, Santa Ana winds, generated by a strong high pressure system over the southwestern U.S., gusted to over 50 mph (80 km/hr), intensifying the fire and allowing it to spread downwind (west) rapidly. The extremely low humidity (in some cases single digit relative humidity values) caused by these Santa Ana winds produced tinder-dry conditions throughout much of southern California. Thus red flag warnings were issued by the National Weather Service.

Photo Details: Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III; Exposure Time: 0.0080s (1/125); Aperture: Ć’/8.0; ISO equivalent: 100; Focal Length: 40.0mm; Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 7.0 (Macintosh)