Chapter 321: The Wind Roared, the Fire Burned
[Chapter 321: The Wind Roared, the Fire Burned]
The bright sun hung high in the sky, causing the leaves to curl inward.
Inside a moving SUV, Hawke turned up the air conditioning and said, "It's over 95 degrees outside."
Brian had been keeping a close eye on the weather lately. "Today's high is 100 degrees. It feels like the asphalt on the road is touching 108 degrees," he remarked.
In the summer, Los Angeles received very little rainfall, and the daytime temperatures soared. Since the turn of the century, the city had even recorded temperatures reaching 107 degrees. Originally, much of California enjoyed a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. However, since the late 1990s, the Southwest was gripped by severe drought.
In Hawke's memory, this drought had stretched on for over twenty years with no signs of easing. A devastating wildfire was bound to strike sooner or later.
Hawke opened the car's mini-fridge and handed Brian a bottle of water. "From January to now, Los Angeles has only received 0.67 inches of rain."
Brian replied, "The meteorology experts at Caltech have been spot on with their predictions. The weather this year is just as they expected."
He turned to Hawke and asked, "Where do you think the fire will start?"