Record Low Live Fuel Moistures Measured in San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties
CAL FIRE has measured live fuel moistures that are at or near record low levels for this time of year at each sampling site in Mateo and Santa Cruz counties.
End of July (2013) live fuel moisture for the San Mateo - Santa Cruz (CZU) CAL FIRE Ranger Unit is posted online here and summarized below.
| Location | Current (%)7/22 | Previous (%)6/18 | Change |
| Hwy 35 & 92 - coyote brush | 151 | 164 | -13 |
| Pulgas - coyote brush | 134 | 149 | -15 |
| Saratoga Summit - chamise | 82 | 102 | -20 |
| new growth | 89 | 120 | -31 |
| old growth | 74 | 83 | -9 |
| Corralitos - manzanita | 83 | 90 | -7 |
| new growth | 83 | 93 | -10 |
| old growth | 83 | 87 | -4 |
Live fuel moisture levels are at or near record lows for this time of year at each of the sampling sites. The levels we are seeing now are typically not seen until September. Manzanita at Corralitos is approaching “critical.” For Manzanita, the critical threshold is considered 80%; for Chamise 60%. There is no established critical threshold for coyote brush. Critical is defined as “the moisture content at which sustained, fast spreading, high intensity wildfires can occur.”
Learn more about Live Fuel Moisture and its importance in determining potential wildland fire behavior and relative fire danger...