The Perfect Firestorm: CO Fires Already 4X Total For All 2017; West's Fire Season 60-80 Days Longer
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In Colorado, preliminary figures show 431,540 acres have burned year to date, nearly four times the 111,667 acres blackened during all of 2017, according to NIFC data. By August, the risk of large wildfires will be at normal levels in much of the Southwest and Rocky Mountain areas, thanks to a forecast for strong summer rains, but risk levels will remain above normal in California through October, according to NIFC data.
Rising average temperatures in the West are also stoking fires. Areas such as northern New Mexico and southern Colorado have been in long-term drought since around 2000. “We’re in a global (temperature) change drought,” said Peter Brown, director of Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Higher temperatures have helped extend the period of wildfires by 60 to 80 days each year, NIFC spokeswoman Jennifer Jones said. “We’re not calling it a fire season anymore, we’re referring to a fire year,” she said.
An expected 1.8 Fahrenheit (1C) temperature rise by mid-century is expected to double or triple the annual acreage burned from a current 7 million acres average, according to a study by the U.S. Forest Service and Department of Agriculture.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wildfires-drought-explainer/explainer-drought-creates-a-perfect-storm-for-wildfires-in-u-s-west-idUSKBN1K304U
