Wildfire weather has become more frequent in the Western United States over the past five decades, with some of the largest jumps in California, according to a new report by Climate Central, a nonprofit news outlet that reports on climate change. The report looks at three key weather conditions — heat, dryness and wind — that, when combined, load the dice for wildfires to spread quickly and grow large, said Kaitlyn Trudeau, senior research associate with Climate Central.
California’s San Joaquin and Sacramento drainages saw smaller, albeit notable, increases in average annual fire weather days of 14 and 13, respectively, since 1973, according to the Climate Central report. Parts of New Mexico, Texas and Arizona saw large jumps in average annual fire weather days. By contrast, parts of North and South Dakota, where spring has been cooling slightly, saw a decline, the report found. There were some drawbacks to doing a nationwide analysis, Trudeau said.