In early January 2025, Los Angeles County was besieged by multiple wildfires, driven by fierce Santa Ana winds and a historic dry spell.
The fires destroyed thousands of homes and led to widespread evacuations, as captured by satellite imagery which vividly depicted the scale and movement of the blazes toward populated areas.
Destructive Wildfires Sweep Through Los Angeles County
Multiple destructive fires erupted in the hills of Los Angeles County in early January 2025. By January 8, several large fires continued to burn, fueled by an extremely dry landscape and powerful winds reaching speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. These blazes have destroyed thousands of structures and forced officials to issue evacuation orders across several areas of the county.
One of the fires, driven by strong winds, started on the morning of January 7 near the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. The satellite image above, captured by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 at 10:45 a.m. Pacific Time, shows the Palisades Fire shortly after it ignited.
Multiple Fires, Intensified Conditions
Smoke continued to stream from the Palisades fire toward the Pacific Ocean that afternoon, when the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured the image below. By the afternoon of January 8, it had moved westward along the Pacific Coast Highway toward Malibu, scorching over 11,000 acres (44 square kilometers), according to Cal Fire.
Critical Fire Weather Conditions Threaten Southern California
Farther inland, the Eaton fire erupted on the evening of January 7 in Altadena, north of downtown Los Angeles. The fire quickly spread to more than 10,000 acres, burning parts of Pasadena and Altadena. Another major fire, Hurst, broke out in San Fernando the night of January 7.
Powerful Santa Ana winds and a lack of rain created “critical” fire weather conditions in Southern California, according to the National Weather Service. Santa Ana winds typically occur between October and January when a pressure gradient builds up between the Great Basin to the east and the cool Pacific Ocean to the west. The weather pattern sends gusty, dry winds streaming down the side of inland mountain ranges, through narrow mountain canyons, and toward the coast.
Continued Fire Threat Looms Over Los Angeles
Although windy conditions are typical this time of year, a lack of rain contributed to the dangerous fire weather. Since October, Southern California has received negligible rain, and according to climate scientist Daniel Swain, the region has experienced the driest start to the winter on record. The Los Angeles airport, for example, recorded 0.03 inches (0.08 centimeters) of rain since October 1—the start of the water year in the state—making it the area’s driest start to the water year on a record maintained by the National Weather Service dating back to 1944.
According to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles, dangerous fire conditions were expected to persist through the evening of January 8 and into January 9.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview and modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2025) processed by the European Space Agency.
