By: Raquel Maria Dillon, 01/17/2014

GLENDORA, Calif. -- The large Colby fire, burning in the foothill suburbs northeast of Los Angeles, was largely tamed by firefighters Friday morning, but it was a reminder of a major threat that remains across California – in a drought as severe as the current one, bone-dry land and heat will inevitably lead to more wildfires. By nightfall Thursday, the wildfire that swept through about 2 1/2 square miles of brush in the San Gabriel Mountains and destroyed five homes early in the day had its progress halted and was 30 percent contained.

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By: Wunderground.com, 12/18/2013

BIG SUR, Calif. — Firefighters were expected to get some help Wednesday from the weather as they battle an unusual late fall wildfire that has destroyed more than a dozen homes and forced about 100 people to flee the scenic Big Sur region overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Winds were expected to be calm during the day, and there's a minimal chance of rain.

The slow-moving fire in Los Padres National Forest near state Highway 1 had consumed 769 acres, or a little over a square mile, by Tuesday night and was 20 percent contained. Full containment was expected by late Friday. It has destroyed 22 buildings, Los Padres National Forest spokesman Lynn Olson said. About 14 of those structures were homes, she said. No injuries have been reported. Mark Nunez, the incident commander of the team fighting the fire, said 829 firefighters had deployed to the area, and thus far, weather has been working in their favor.

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By: Nick Wiltgen, 12/03/2013

December has arrived. And even though the winter season most of us are familiar with, "astronomical" winter, doesn't begin until the winter solstice on Dec. 21, we meteorologists have already started our winter season. Meteorological winter began Dec. 1 and runs through the last day of February.

It looks like Mother Nature is following the meteorologists' calendar this year as bitterly cold arctic air plunges southward across much of the West and eventually expands across the Plains and Midwest. This will send temperatures to their lowest levels of the season – and in some cases, potentially the coldest in several years. Along with the cold comes a nasty bout of snow and ice associated with Winter Storm Cleon.

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Desmogblog.com, By: Sharon Kelly, 11/08/2013

Since the shale rush took off starting in 2005 in Texas, drillers have sprinted from one state to the next, chasing the promise of cheaper, easier, more productive wells. This land rush was fueled by a wild spike in natural gas prices that helped make shale gas drilling attractive even though the costs of fracking were high. As the selling price of natural gas sank from its historic highs in 2008, much of the luster wore off entire regions that had initially captivated investors, like Louisiana’s Haynesville shale or Arkansas’s Fayetteville, now in decline.

But unlike natural gas prices, oil prices remain high to this day, and investors and policymakers alike remain dazzled by the heady promise of oil from shale rock. Oil and gas companies have wrung significant amounts of black gold from shale oil plays like Texas’s Eagle Ford and North Dakota’s Bakken.

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