Wildfire outlook for this year daunting

MOSES LAKE — People who have lived around the Columbia Basin, and all of eastern Washington for that matter, know an increase in temperature and dry conditions also means an increase in the potential for wildfires. Temperatures seem as if they are seesawing between hot and cool from week-to-week, but one thing is for sure, the heat is coming and experts are expecting summer 2018 to be drier and hotter than normal.

The Northwest Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) is expecting normal wildland fire potential through June, which is predicted to be followed by an above normal potential for wildfires in southeastern Washington and southern/north-central Oregon in July. The NIFC notes snowpack levels at higher elevations in Washington were above average as we entered May.

“The cool trend that settled over the region in mid-February continued through April. April’s temperatures were generally below average across the region. Precipitation was at or above average for most areas as well,” reads a report from the NIFC.

Wildfire season prediction isn’t an exact science that can pinpoint where, when and how much will be burned in a given season. In 2017 Washington saw 1,346 wildfires burn through a total of 404,223 acres. A large number to be sure, but the 2017 was up over 100,000 acres from 2016, when the state saw 293,717 acres burned. 2015 only complicates things, as 1.1 million acres were charred that year by over 2,000 wildfires. 2014 and 2013 were a little bit more average, with 1,480 wildfires burning 386,972 acres in 2014 and 1,527 wildfires burning 152,603 acres in 2013. On average, based on data gathered by the NIFC over the last 16 years, Washington sees a hair under 1,400 wildfires a year and over 258,000 acres burned on an annual basis.

“Outlooks for the region (the northwest region of the U.S.) for May suggest no clear trend in temperature and conditions drier than typical for the month. For June, July, and August, the summer of 2018 is expected to be warmer and drier than average,” states the NIFC. “Fire danger remains low for large fires that are naturally ignited for the geographic area. Fire danger will not likely rise to such levels until June of 2018.”