Data & Trackers

Photo illustration of a steel border fence along chaparral; behind that fence there are multiple silhouettes of people’s side profiles intertwined with barbed wire

Politics

We asked all 58 California sheriffs about immigration enforcement under Trump. Here’s what they said

Look up how your sheriff responded to questions about their plans to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

By

Tomas Apodaca

and

Nigel Duara

• January 20, 2025

Firefighters in bright yellow jackets sprays water onto smoldering debris at the site of a fire. Thick smoke rises into the air, partially obscuring the charred remains of a building’s framework in the background. The scene is surrounded by rubble and burned structures.

California Wildfires

Map: How big are the LA fires? Use this tool to overlay them atop where you live

The fires sweeping across Los Angeles County for the past week have burned more than 50,000 acres, an area roughly equivalent to 2,200 Alcatraz Islands or 500 Disneylands, or larger than Washington, D.C. An arid fall and winter has dried out vegetation after two wetter-than-average years, providing fuel as a windstorm, with hurricane-force gusts topping […]

By

Jeremia Kimelman

and

John Osborn D'Agostino

• January 13, 2025

A person with pants, but no shirt, fills their water bottle during a hot day at a water station at a tennis court.

Climate Change

More extreme heat + more people = danger in these California cities. ‘Will it get as hot as Death Valley?’

Inland communities with big population booms will experience the most extreme heat days under climate change projections. The combination puts more people at risk — and many cities are unprepared.

By

Alejandra Reyes-Velarde

and

Arfa Momin

• September 5, 2024

Firefighters work as Park Fire burns near Chico on July 25, 2024. Photo by Fred Greaves, REUTERS

California Wildfires

Map: How big is the Park Fire? Use this tool to overlay it atop where you live

The Park Fire just pushed California’s wildfire season into overdrive. It has grown rapidly since it started near Chico on July 24. Within two days, the blaze had consumed some 178,000 acres, then it doubled the next day. By Sunday, the fire had devoured more acres than all of this year’s other fires to date […]

By

Jeremia Kimelman

and

John Osborn D'Agostino

• July 29, 2024

San Diego’s Lake Hodges Dam under repair in fall of 2022. The dam is expected to be replaced in the next decade. The dam, built as a multiple arch design, was completed in 1918, and purchased by the City of San Diego in 1925. Photo courtesy of John Gastaldo

Water

These 42 California dams need repairs. But lawmakers cut the funds in half

The dam repairs would store more water and protect the public, but legislators and the governor, facing a huge deficit, cut $50 million.

By

Rachel Becker

• June 13, 2024