Los Altos Hills County Fire District Second Annual Wildfire Community Preparedness Day

Daniel L. Swain, Ph.D.

Daniel Swain, Ph.D., is a climate scientist focused on the dynamics and impacts of extreme events—including droughts, floods, storms, and wildfires—on a warming planet. Dr. Swain is an alumnus of the University of California, Davis (B.S., Atmospheric Science) and of Stanford University (Ph.D., Earth System Science), and completed his postdoctoral work at UCLA. He also authors the widely-read Weather West blog (weatherwest.com), which provides real-time perspectives on California weather and climate and can be found on Twitter (@Weather_West), Bluesky (@WeatherWest) and YouTube (@WeatherWest).

“Wildfire & Climate Change in California: Lessons From Los Angeles & Other Recent Disasters” Presentation Summary 

Dr. Swain will reflect on lessons learned from recent wildfire events, in Los Angeles and beyond, and what recent observations and scientific findings imply for California wildfire (including, locally, in San Mateo County). He will discuss how climate change has already increased wildfire risk in California due to warming temperatures and subsequent increases in extreme vegetation dryness, and how seasonal shifts in the onset of California’s “rainy season” combined with increasing swings between extremely wet and dry conditions may combine to produce increases in wildfire risk that are “larger than the sum of their parts.”  He will also offer perspectives on how increasing variability between quieter and very active fire years may inform risk intervention strategies, including the growing need to leverage favorable windows for prescribed fire and other vegetation management programs in the WUI.

His full curriculum vitae is available here.