Visualizing the Los Angeles wildfires in maps and charts

By Matt Stiles, Sean O’Key, Byron Manley, Lou Robinson, Curt Merrill, Annette Choi, Rachel Wilson, Henrik Pettersson, Amy O’Kruk and Renée Rigdon, CNN

(CNN) — A series of life-threatening fires have destroyed homes and taken lives across Los Angeles County and surrounding areas in the past month. CNN tracked the fires — now contained — in maps and charts.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection employs sensors attached to aircraft to capture fire perimeter data. Because high winds can sometimes ground aircraft, updates to the observed fire perimeter can be delayed.

The Palisades Fire – the largest of the fires so far this year – spread at an alarming rate:

More context

Since October, Southern California has experienced increasing dryness, as fall and winter storms focused on the Pacific Northwest. Last winter brought abundant rain and snow to the Southwest, but this winter has taken a starkly different turn. This shift in weather patterns, swinging between extremes, is becoming more common with the warming climate.

The summer months are typically the most significant for wildfire damage in California statewide. Wildfires like this are rare in January. The below chart shows the average number of acres burned per month throughout the last decade or so.

The Palisades, Eaton and Hughes fires are already among the 10 largest fires to hit Los Angeles County since at least 2013.

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CNN Meteorologists Allison Chinchar and Brandon Miller contributed to this report.