Active U.S. Wildfire Season Expected; NW Remains Unpredictable

When it comes to possible U.S. wildfire activity now through August:

“We're probably going to get a little bit more active than we normally are across the country," said National Interagency Fire Center meteorologist Jim Wallman.  He added the May and early June forecast focus primarily on the southern Atlantic Coast where the fire season is already very active.  Florida, which has delt with dry weather for months, is currently dealing with wildfires burning right now in the Everglades; experts say those blazes could burn until the rainy season arrives in late June.

Out here in the west, Wallman says the Northwest and California are still a bit of an uncertainty.  He noted right now many of the models are showing that it’s going to be a warm and dry spring.

“We've already started to see that in April and if it were to continue through June, even in areas that have had good snowpack over the winter, it results in the snowpack more rapidly drying out and exposing the fuels earlier," Wallman said.  "So, that is going to be a pretty big concern for us if this pans out. So, if we don't get any repeated precipitation events in the spring, that could really make everything more available to burn again in the summer.”

May is Wildfire Awareness Month, and Oregonians have been asked to prepare for an active wildfire season.

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