Phil Cunningham
@firesciphil
Director of Wildfire Modeling @FirstStreetFdn Wildfire modeling and atmospheric science Tennis enthusiast and former 'pretty decent' junior player
New wildfire truth meme to pin…
Do I need to tap the sign?
If this is how the experts *stop* a big wildfire, couldn’t the same thing be done to *prevent* a big wildfire?
The 10,244 acre Monroe Canyon Fire has nearly 1,000 personnel on the incident working to contain that fire now. Crews have completed structure protection with sprinklers, and with help of aviation are conducting firing operations. These firing Ops are helping to create a solid…
Please please please watch this incredible video by the great Zeke Lunder @wildland_zko and understand what fire people see when we look at your houses… “it’s like living surrounded by gas cans in a neighborhood of arsonists” *Design for Disaster* @Hotshot_Movie @WUIPro_com
Here is something new - a Lookout reaction video about a gorgeous and doomed-to-burn (in my opinion) $4M architectural joyride in La Cañada Flintridge, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, just NE of Los Angeles. This critique is a prelude to our upcoming 'Danger in…
I cannot overstate how great it is to see an agency with the balls to do RX burns in July. They see the opportunity we all see, fire season is muted. Love the bias for action. Not surprising from VCFD. Outstanding agency with the best hand crews outside the Feds.
VCFD will be performing a prescribed burn in Adams Canyon, north of Santa Paula near Highway 150. This controlled burn is part of ongoing efforts to improve ecosystem health and reduce wildfire risk. Adams Canyon is located north of Santa Paula, south of Thomas Aquinas…
Another study showing compelling evidence that prescribed fire reduces wildfire severity, particularly in the WUI. This time by my awesome First Street wildfire team colleague, Wade Ross. mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1… @Hotshot_Movie yet another for your files!
In case you’ve been living under a rock for 25 years… or (like me) you prefer 70s British funk to our boy Marshall here… Still listen to the original, though, it really is the bomb.
This phenomenal piece of British funk is better known for being sampled in a massive hit most of you will know. But do yourself a favor and listen to it in its entirety. And when the deep groove hits at 2:10, enjoy the 🤯 youtu.be/xKISdd2mKzU?si…
You know what this means, right? With a mild summer and muted early fire season, CA has been blessed (for the 3rd year in a row) with IDEAL conditions to do massive RX burns. Are they doing it? Of course not. Who knows why not?
Well, after a couple days of monsoonal thunderstorms Fri/Sat, the upcoming week looks very quiet for #SoCal with the benign conditions continuing into the 1st half of next week. Dry conditions expected with temps in most areas below seasonal normals. #CAwx
This phenomenal piece of British funk is better known for being sampled in a massive hit most of you will know. But do yourself a favor and listen to it in its entirety. And when the deep groove hits at 2:10, enjoy the 🤯 youtu.be/xKISdd2mKzU?si…
The abundance of soot particles in pyroconvective clouds often results in many small cloud droplets that are too small to fall as rain. But if they get high enough… Often the only precip from pyroCbs is sooty hail. And like the star he is @Hotshot_Movie provides the footage 🙏
Today's Lookout Livestream is an extended/freewheeling tour of the topic of wildfire severity, told as a bunch of stories about fires I have worked on or studied in Northern California over the past 3 decades. the-lookout.org/2025/07/16/und… This broadcast came about, in part, due to an…
This needs to 10x (Gabe’s follower count, that is) But I don’t think that I have enough reach to have any impact at all.
My follower count now matches the resolution at which I film. Thanks guys! I do hear rumors that @RED_Cinema is working on a 12K sensor…
I’m sure that all my fellow MetroWest neighbors will agree that, if this kind of landscape is what we have to look forward to after the apocalypse… Bring it on!! @VisitMetroWest
Outstanding study validating what we report in our film Hotshot (down to the exact numbers), showing just how powerful RX fire is for crushing the risk of severe wildfire risk (nearly 90%!). Grab a drip torch and get to it, Gavin!
@StanfordECHOLab Blog post summary: stanfordecholab.com/blog/prescribe… Paper 1, led by Makoto Kelp: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10… Paper 2, led by Iván Higuera-Mendieta: eartharxiv.org/repository/vie…
Do I need to tap the sign?
Does prescribed burning reduce overall smoke from wildfire? We have 2 new papers that try to quantify this. Answer: each acre Rx burned generates at least 3x more reduction in future wildfire smoke than is emitted in the Rx burn. But can take years to realize benefits. 1/ 🧵
Prescribed burns reduce smoke production in wildfires… (And reduces wildfire intensity, too, btw) This shouldn’t come as any surprise, but I’m always happy to see it demonstrated so nicely. @Hotshot_Movie for your files
Does prescribed burning reduce overall smoke from wildfire? We have 2 new papers that try to quantify this. Answer: each acre Rx burned generates at least 3x more reduction in future wildfire smoke than is emitted in the Rx burn. But can take years to realize benefits. 1/ 🧵
London Fire Brigade (LFB) has fought more wildfires so far this summer than in the whole of 2024, a senior firefighter has said. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…
Prof Lareau providing the good stuff, as always!
Here is the radar analysis of the #DeerCreekFire's plume at the time of the tornadic vortex. These data show a rapidly deepening plume at the time of the peak vortex strength (~1310 MDT), followed by overshooting convection that penetrates the tropopause, reaching ~40,000 ft.…
And in case you are interested in the how’s and why’s of UK wildfire, read @GuillermoRein’s fantastic paper on the topic. And follow people like Rob Gazzard (@essexforester) link.springer.com/article/10.100…
As a wildfire scientist I understand how and why fire risk in the UK is high. But as someone who grew up in SE London in the 80s playing tennis all over the UK, the cognitive dissonance of seeing wildfire in places I associate with green grass and incessant rain is… jarring!
I’ve come to the realization that Gabriel is a morning person, and now I have to question our friendship 😒
Wake yo ass up!
As a wildfire scientist I understand how and why fire risk in the UK is high. But as someone who grew up in SE London in the 80s playing tennis all over the UK, the cognitive dissonance of seeing wildfire in places I associate with green grass and incessant rain is… jarring!
A wildfire which broke out near Guildford on Monday afternoon was put out on Tuesday morning, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service says. More here: bbc.in/4ltHb5P