Fire activity and firefighter engagement increased in several geographic areas in the past week. 18 uncontained large fires are currently burning nationwide. More than 5,000 personnel are assigned to incidents across the country, including one Complex Incident Management Team supporting response efforts. While rainfall is predicted for some areas of the West in the coming days, it may be accompanied by lightning.
So far this year, 29,023 fires have burned more than 2.3 million acres nationwide. Notable fire activity occurred in Southern California, where the Santa Rosa Island Fire in Channel Islands National Park has grown to 18,379 acres. Evacuations are in effect on fires in Southern California and the Southwest, where the Seven Cabins Fire in New Mexico has burned 17,116 acres.
As we honor the service and sacrifice of our fallen countrymen this Memorial Day Weekend, many of us will be enjoying the vast diversity of public lands that are such precious and irreplaceable features of our nation. As you recreate, please remember that most wildfires in the United States are human-caused and preventable. Taking simple precautions, such as avoiding parking on vegetation, checking equipment and trailer chains to prevent dragging, following local fire restrictions, and ensuring that campfires and barbeques are out cold before you walk away can help reduce wildfire risk and protect communities, firefighters, and public lands.
Weather
Low pressure will move across the Northern Plains bringing wetting rainfall of a quarter of an inch to as much as 2 inches. A low pressure wave and associated stalled frontal boundary to the south & east will also bring showers and thunderstorms across the Southern Plains, much of the South, across the Southeast, across the Tennessee & Ohio valleys, and northward into the Mid-Atlantic states with quarter inch amounts up to as much as 2 inches in some areas. Lightning potential and coverage will be highest across Texas, Oklahoma, and extending eastward along the Gulf Coast into Georgia with some severe thunderstorms possible. Meanwhile, mostly dry conditions are expected for most of the Great Lakes and Northeast. Some relative humidities in the Northeast will be as low as 25% along with locally breezy NW winds across Vermont to Maine. Meanwhile, while most of the Western U.S. will be dry, some isolated mixed wet/dry thunderstorms are possible across portions of California, the Northern Rockies, & portions of Utah & Colorado. The driest conditions will be across the Southwest U.S., Great Basin, and east of the Cascades where minimum relative humidities will range from the single digits to 30%, lowest across the Desert Southwest. Some localized breeziness is also likely in the afternoon to evening hours in these areas.
Daily statistics
Number of new large fires or emergency response * New fires are identified with an asterisk
