This week provided a brief reprieve from scalding temperatures out west, but wildfires are still burning and triple-digit temperatures will return.
USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey takes a closer look at what this means for wildfire threat.
“Unfortunately, we see triple-digit heat returning to lower elevations later this week and expected to continue for quite some time, perhaps at least into mid-August. So with the hot weather returning and anytime we get the lower humidity values, the high gusty winds along the lightning strikes associated with dry thunderstorms create very dangerous conditions, and over the next week, we do expect to see several days in California and the northwest where those conditions could all come together to spark new wildfires and fan existing fires,” he explains.
Rippey says that more than 4 million acres have burned across the country so far, and more than half of them occurred in the west in just the last couple of weeks.
The Senate Wildfire Caucus held its first meeting this week, with Senators John Boozman and Michael Bennet discussing recommendations from a recent report on wildfire management. Co-chair Alex Padilla highlighted the urgent need for collaboration, pointing to recent wildfires devastating western communities.
Bennet also stressed the importance of modernizing Congress’s approach to handling wildfires.
