Winter is fast descending on Alaska, and freeze-up is under way for the northern interior. Snow is lying in northern interior communities from the Kobuk River valley across to the Yukon Flats, and the forecast shows a deepening freeze in the next week that will bring ice formation to lakes and rivers.
Looking back at the 2024 fire season, the AK Fire Service has released statistics for 2024 activity. Total statewide acreage burned was 667,000 acres, which is just a little higher then the 30-year median of 600,000 acres. Of course, it's far lower than the hyper-active seasons of the past; here's a figure from the AICC report:
The most significant fire activity was heavily concentrated at the end of June and the very beginning of July - really only about a week. This is somewhat unusual: it normally takes more than two weeks to accumulate the central 50% of the annual acreage. The most analogous year in recent decades may be 2000, when statewide acreage jumped from 149,000 on June 29 to 569,000 only 8 days later; and the annual total was 756,000.
The fire preparedness level was elevated (level 3 or higher) for 23 days, and 12 days were spent in the two highest levels:
Alaska is a very big place, of course, and Fairbanks-area residents suffered through more smoke than might be expected with near-normal statewide fire acreage. There were 9 days with smoke and visibility of 2 miles or less, and that's not much less than the big fire seasons of 2019 and 2015. Last year was pretty smoky too, despite less than 300,000 acres of Alaska fire; it all depends on lightning and fire locations, and local wind patterns.
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