Mark Jackson

On average, fires in Southern California scorch more than 100,000 acres each year. When hot and dry Santa Ana winds combine with critically dry vegetation, the potential for large and destructive wildfires dramatically increases. Mark Jackson will discuss how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service partners with its area fire agencies to respond to this threat and minimize its impacts. He will also discuss how climate change might affect wildfire trends in the western United States.

Jackson is the meteorologist in charge with NOAA’s National Weather Service in Oxnard, California, serving Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties.