Dry, gusty conditions could spread the flames even more.
Source: New York Times
Firefighting teams across the West Coast braced for unpredictable wind gusts and drier weather on Monday, conditions that threatened to make new kindling out of forests and strengthen already dire wildfires that have burned more than five million acres, destroyed scores of homes and left at least 24 people dead.
Disastrous wildfires this season have forced hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes and turned forests, fields and communities into blasted landscapes, covered by hazardous smoke and falling ash.
State leaders have raced for weeks to contain one spiraling fire after another, straining their emergency services and prompting them to plead for help from other states and the federal government. President Trump is scheduled on Monday to visit McClellan Park, Calif., east of where a fire, now largely contained, recently burned more than 363,000 acres near Sacramento.
The authorities have warned for days not to expect relief soon, saying that even though winds could help disperse some of the smoke that has smothered cities like San Francisco and Oakland, it could also dry out brush and fan flames, reversing the progress firefighters have made. The winds, caused by a slow-moving storm system off the coast of Oregon, were expected to last most of the week and could push smoke to Montana, Idaho and even Canada, meteorologists said.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/14/us/wildfires-live-updates.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
= new reply since forum marked as read
if we were to stop polluting right this moment, right now, this is still the new normal. 
