Late last night, while we were all in bed...

FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

Wildfires are sweeping through southern California again this year. This time seems a little worse than last years. My brother and his family decided this would be a great time to visit friends in San Francisco (their house is just inside the voluntary evacuation zone -- see the map below). My sister, who lives much closer to downtown and the ocean, is staying put and keeping the windows closed.

The local PBS station in San Diego has a really good google-mashup that shows the affected area. Red shaded areas are mandatory evacuation, yellow is voluntary.

If you're like me, you're wondering what these fires looks like from space.

Why does the smoke blow towards the ocean, when the prevailing trade-winds are the opposite direction? It's the Santa Anna Winds, apparently. Also, "fire creates its own wind". Which is just not sporting.