Yesterday, 117 new fires were reported nationwide, including four new large fires. Firefighters are currently working to contain 72 large fires, with 25,248 personnel assigned to incidents nationwide. Nine geographic areas are reporting large fires, contributing to the complexity of fire activity at the national level.
So far in 2026, firefighters have responded to 49,608 wildfires that have burned more than 7.5 million acres across the United States, 128% of the 10-year average for fires and 169% for acres burned.
No other country in the world has a public land system like the United States. Please do your part in protecting it. Remember and teach campfire safety to your children. Make sure campfires are dead out by using dirt and water when stirring the coals. Use a shovel to help properly extinguish your campfire and keep it nearby, just in case. Store matches and lighters where curious children can’t get them. Carefully extinguish all smoking materials. Together, we can prevent unwanted wildfires.
Weather
High pressure will continue to amplify over the Western US today bringing drying and warming conditions. Warmer than normal temperatures are forecast for the western half of the country with highs generally in the 90s to lower 100s with the lower 110s possible in over southeast California and western Arizona. The hot temperatures will coincide with relative humidity levels in the single digits and teens in the afternoon and only poor recoveries expected at night. Conditions won’t be quite as dry over the Desert Southwest where lingering monsoonal moisture will result in scattered afternoon thunderstorms. Fortunately, the winds will be light and terrain driven over most of the West except for potential outflow winds near thunderstorms. Farther east, the main weather concern will revolve around the unrelenting heat across the Southern Plains and Southeast. High temperatures in this area will peak in the 90s to 105F with relative humidity values dropping into the mid-teens to mid 20s. No strong winds are expected in these areas; however, wind gusts of 15-25 mph will be possible over Texas by afternoon. Numerous thunderstorms are also expected across the southeast and this could produce erratic outflow winds and new fire starts over the extremely dry and receptive fuels.
