Dry Winter Brings Early Fire Season In MIdwest; 300 Fires So Far In Wisconsin In 2024 - Normal Is 40

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The Midwest received some much needed moisture this week following an especially hot and dry winter that hamstrung outdoor recreation and sparked an early spring wildfire season in several states. Parts of the Midwest saw as much as 24 inches of snow and rain by Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. The powerful storm, which worked its way west from New England, caused mayhem on the roads and temporarily knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of people.

Still, the precipitation is unlikely to break the dry spell that has overtaken most of the Midwest, officials say, with some states already battling hundreds of fires even before the official start of spring last week. The dry conditions and overall lack of snow cover, they say, now threatens to extend the region’s spring wildfire season well into the end of the year. “We’re seeing extreme fire behavior, red flag warnings in March, which we normally don’t see,” William Glesener, the wildfire operations supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, said in an interview. “Most years in Minnesota, fire season starts sometime in April, maybe late March in southern Minnesota.”

A similar situation is playing out in Wisconsin, said Catherine Koele, a wildfire prevention specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, noting that the state was battling hundreds of blazes weeks before the start of peak fire season. “Year to date, we’ve had close to 300 wildfires statewide,” she said. “And the normal year-to-date 10-year average is about 40 fires.” Firefighters in Michigan are also battling early blazes, and Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen declared a state disaster last month after a major wildfire burned more than 71,000 acres in 24 hours, destroying at least two homes and forcing several residents to evacuate.

While wildfires are common in the Midwest, the region isn’t known for its wildfire season, which, compared to that of the American West, is relatively tame. Its moist climate and abundant vegetation typically keeps fires from raging out of control. But for decades, wildfire threats have been growing in the Midwest and around the globe, in part because of climate change, scientists say.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28032024/midwest-early-wildfire-season/

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