US economy forecast to incur up to $275B losses from LA wildfires

US forecasting firm AccuWeather upped its estimate of economic losses from the wildfires in Los Angeles amid fears of the spread of the fires due to at least two bouts of dry winds.

The Pennsylvania-based firm expected the total financial costs to reach between $250 billion and $275 billion, double its previously expected forecast of between $135 billion and $150 billion.

The company warned in a statement issued today, Jan. 13, that dry winds will blow from today until Jan. 15 across parts of southern California, which may mean more difficult efforts to fight the fires as they spread.

Meanwhile, AccuWeather sees that the relative humidity in the region will remain lower than 20-30% this week, and the dry environment combined with winds may support fires to continue to spread rapidly across the region.