June 16, 2022 | Republished content from Capitol Press | Brad Carlson
BOISE — Much of the West will face an above-normal risk of big wildfires by late summer despite a wet spring in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
“We have had a pretty wet and cold spring that has helped those drought conditions,” said Nick Nauslar, U.S. Bureau of Land Management wildfire meteorologist at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise. “But the underlying drought, and forecast warm and dry weather, are probably going to bring us back to normal to above-normal significant fire potential.
“There is above-normal grass growth,” he said. “In Oregon and Washington, and into Idaho and Nevada, that may be a factor in those areas in terms of increasing significant fire potential later this summer.”
The fire forecast for June through September said below-normal precipitation is likely across much of the Plains through the central Rockies and into the Northwest. Above-normal temperatures are expected across much of the contiguous U.S. More on wildfire risk article
SOURCE: Republished content from Capitol Press | Brad Carlson
Leave a Reply