WASHINGTON (AP) — Human-caused climate change increased the likelihood and intensity of the hot, dry and windy conditions that fanned the flames of the recent devastating Southern California wildfires, a scientific study found.

As Southern California gets some much-needed rain, a new analysis suggests the conditions that led to January's wildfires were 35 per cent more likely because of human-fuelled climate change. And the more likely those fires become,

The recent storm brought some much needed moisture to Southern California without the dangerous mudslides some feared. But did it help reduce the fire danger?

So far, many clues to the origins of the deadly Eaton fire, which started in the area just after 6 p.m. that evening and went on to kill 17 people, have pointed to the brushy hillside where a tangle of electrical lines stretch up Eaton Canyon.

More rain fell Monday on parts of Southern California after causing mudflows over the weekend, helping firefighters but boosting the risk of toxic ash runoff in areas scorched by Los Angeles-area wildfires.