At the stroke of midnight tonight, Southern California will mark a milestone that few are celebrating.

History will show that from July 1 of 2006 to June 30 of this year, only 3.21 inches of rain fell in downtown Los Angeles — the lowest precipitation level since records started being kept in the 1880s. Other cities around the region, including Pasadena, Culver City, Anaheim and Riverside, will also set all-time records reports the Los Angeles Times.

As the record falls, firefighters around the region are bracing for a potentially disastrous run-up to July 4 as fireworks go on sale just as temperatures rise into the triple digits.

“Human nature is we all love a new record,” said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. “But this one’s on the hate list. And it’s a long list.”

The unrelenting dry conditions have sapped moisture from plant life in hillsides and canyons, making them far more susceptible than normal to sparks from fireworks.

The latest studies of brush and grasslands by the L.A. County Fire Department found that the moisture level in plants is the lowest in 26 years. And that doesn’t count the large amount of brush that has already died.

Of equal concern to firefighters is the wind. Typically, Southern California records 30 days of Santa Ana winds a year. But over the last 12 months, the region saw more than 100 days of Santa Anas. On Friday, the National Weather Service again issued a red flag fire warning for forest and mountain areas.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” said Burbank Fire Capt. Ron Bell. “The Griffith Park and Hollywood Hills fires show that something that could normally be contained immediately could rage out of control with the wind. Things are going to be bigger and worse than ever.”

Read it here: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fourth30jun30,0,3131907.story?coll=la-home-local