Climate

The West Coast state of California, and the East Coast state of Florida, are currently going through seasonal changes of weather. However, California’s storms are scorching compared to Florida’s. California’s forests get very dry in the summer, making it very susceptible to catch fire. So, while we, here in Florida, wipe rain off of our windshields every day, Californians wipe ash, or soot, off of theirs.

California and Florida are the southernmost points in their western and eastern locations. One state has much less humidity than the other, one was established in search of gold while the other was established when gold was found, and they are both, respectively, the firestorm and lightning storm capitals of the world.

The main reason behind California’s wildfires is mainly because of the arid regions located in between cities. The desert climate in these regions dries the areas around them and causes the weather to be very, very dry. Because of the constant dryness, many plants dry out and die.

During the summer, most people have barbecues or cookouts with friends and family. Many wildfires have started because of barbecue grill flames leaping close by dry plants and igniting them. Much like the domino effect, once a fire starts, especially a dry fire, there is difficulty stopping it.

The local citizens of Ventura County have learned the hard way how to cope with wildfires. Many people have lost their homes and had to relocate, while others have barely lucked out or were saved by the brave firefighters. Most of the time, as Kevin Kiely stated, “If we see firetrucks pull up, we'll start thinking about leaving,” the civilians start to evacuate the area as soon as there are any relative signs of wildfire.

Florida does not have the burden of dealing with dry heat. Instead, there’s an abundance of humidity. The percentage of humidity in most of Florida is high enough to prevent most wildfires from growing to dangerous sizes. However, the humidity brings the completely opposite type of storms: thunderstorms. Tampa Bay has “chances of rain” forecasts almost every day just because the odds of there being rain in Florida during the late summer is very high.

The difference between wiping ash off a car’s windshield compared to wiping rain off is very different. Because of the current climates, both California and Florida are experiencing heavy storms. The cause behind California’s storms is mostly manmade. Florida’s isn’t. Although California’s climate beckons wildfires to start, the fires start from human beings dropping a lit object in the wrong patch of grass or shrubbery, or from flames being picked up from the wind and carried into dry trees, where they ignite and set neighboring plants on fire.

I personally, would much rather have days with rain hitting my windshield than day with ash hitting my windshield.