California faces intensifying wildfire season as blazes spread statewide

• This year's fire season is shaping up to be more severe than last year's, with wildfire activity already "trending above normal" in both northern and southern California due to a warmer and drier spring, per Cal Fire.
• That could mean larger and more destructive blazes in September and October, especially across high-elevation forests and lowland grasslands.

Between the lines: California's wildfire season has evolved into a year-round threat, with the hot, dry and arid months of August, September and October posing the greatest risk.

The latest: Lightning storms this month ignited several fires in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Yosemite. The fast-moving Garnet Fire east of Fresno, which stood at 15% containment as of Thursday, has burned more than 57,000 acres, prompted evacuation orders, and threatened to destroy hundred-year-old giant sequoias.

• The Gifford Fire in Los Padres National Forest, the largest active blaze at 131,614 acres, was nearly fully contained as of Thursday. Parts of the forest remain closed to recreation, including sites in the Santa Lucia and Mount Pinos ranger districts.

Catch up quick: The fires that tore through LA in January were among the most destructive and deadliest on record after burning more than 23,000 acres and destroying thousands of structures.

• The massive blazes are projected to have cost up to $164 billion in total property and capital losses, per UCLA estimates.