SF Chronicle Meteorologist Anthony Edwards on the LA Fires
California kicked off 2025 with some of the most devastating wildfires in the state’s history. Thousands have already lost their homes, dozens have been killed, and as of today the largest of the Los Angeles area fires is only 14% contained. This week on Sea Change Radio we speak with meteorologist Anthony Edwards of the San Francisco Chronicle to learn more about what caused the fires, how climate change is making events like these more commonplace and inevitable than ever, and what we can all do to better prepare for them. Then, we take a few minutes to look at the burgeoning industry of amateur meteorology in the ski industry and the impact that the growth in untrained meteorological professionals is having on Edwards's job, and on the field in general. Narrator | 00:02 - This is Sea Change Radio covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise. Anthony Edwards (AE) | 00:23 - In California, we just had two of the four most destructive wildfires in state history occur on the same day in January. I mean, these extremes are occurring all over the world, and we're seeing destructive events accelerating. Narrator | 00:38 - California kicked off 2025 with some of the most devastating wildfires in the state's history. Thousands have already lost their homes, dozens have been killed. And as of today, the largest of the Los Angeles area Fires is only 14% contained this week on Sea Change Radio. We speak with meteorologist Anthony Edwards of the San Francisco Chronicle to learn more about what caused the fires, how climate change is, making events like these more commonplace and inevitable than ever, and what we can all do to better prepare for them. Then we take a few minutes to look at the burgeoning industry of amateur meteorology in the ski industry and the impact that the growth in untrained meteorological professionals is having on Edwards' job and on the field in general. Alex Wise (AW) | 01:44 - I am joined now on Sea Change Radio by my friend Anthony Edwards, who's a meteorologist and journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle. Anthony, welcome to Sea Change Radio. Anthony Edwards (AE) | 01:52 - Thank you, Alex. It's good to be here. Alex Wise (AW) | 01:54 - So you're not just a meteorologist, you're a journalist, which adds a little context to what consumers of weather news are trying to, consumers are always trying to connect the dots from seeing these scientific models of wind patterns and weather patterns, but then the real life effects of climate change and, and extreme weather like we're seeing down in Los Angeles. Why don't you first talk about some of the challenges that you have as a journalist and meteorologist trying to connect those dots, and then I want to dive a little bit more into the details of what's going on in Los Angeles. Anthony Edwards (AE) | 02:32 - Sure, yeah. Well, that's a great question. I mean, in California here, typically, uh, I feel like sometimes we're laughed at by other parts of the country, you know, and people in tornado alley, you know, they, they see these crazy thunderstorms and whatnot. But for a large portion of the year here in California, you know, we generally have pretty nice weather and to raise the alarm bells when things are really getting real. That's the big challenge, right? Because when we do have extremes, I mean, we, we've seen this the past few years in California. Now we have crazy fires. We had the fourth largest wildfire in state history this summer up in Northern California, and now two of the four most destructive wildfires in state history are burning in Southern California right now. And, you know, we've seen flooding, extreme heat waves here too. So I think the challenging part is to tell people, you know, hey, things are getting real. Like it's time to, to be ready to go if you need to evacuate your house, because a lot of people move to the state thinking, you know, oh, we're all good. Like, this is heaven.
