2020’s ‘Orange Skies’ Are (Probably) Returning to San Francisco Tomorrow

An unwelcome fit of déjà vu, courtesy of the climate crisis

Rodeo Beach, part of Marin Headlands National Seahshore, provides lookout for hikers overlooking the sunset in sky reddened by fires and smoke. Purple clouds are puffs of smoke from nearby Pt. Reyes National Seashore fire. (Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images/GMA)

This year’s wildfire began, blessedly timid. Sighs of relief could’ve been heard echoing through empty tin cans pressed against thin drywall separating Bay Area apartments.

Nevermind the fact that California’s drought conditions continue to worsen — leaving some of the state’s large water reservoirs, like Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta with record-low levels heading into the state’s historically hottest months — and high temperatures continue beating down on the region. Regardless of the realities of PG&E’s complicit nature and practices, burying only a fraction of its above-ground power lines that are responsible for, quite literally, almost all of California’s major wildfires to date. Not even hinting at the changing wind patterns observed through the state that could shift entire regional climates.

Somehow, 2022’s wildfire season was looking like the least severe observed in a long time. That is, however, until the Oak Fire began burning completely uncontained on Friday.