Alaska's fire season has been fairly subdued up to this point, although residents of the Tanana Valley near Salcha might be forgiven for thinking otherwise, as a large fire is burning on the west side of the Tanana River. The McDonald fire, as it's named, has burned about 40,000 acres, or nearly two-thirds of the state's total of 63,000 acres so far this season. It's by far the largest fire in the state and has produced dense smoke in the local area. Here's the latest update from the Alaska Fire Service:
https://akfireinfo.com/2024/06/20/mcdonald-fire-remains-west-of-the-tanana-river/
Elsewhere there are a number of fires in southwestern Alaska, sparked by widespread lightning activity on Monday:
https://akfireinfo.com/2024/06/18/recent-lightning-sparks-multiple-new-fires-in-southwest-alaska/
Also, a few large tundra fires are active in the northwest.
The 1995-2023 median statewide acreage for this date is about 100,000 acres, so the season is slightly less active than normal so far, but it's still early. The median acreage jumps four-fold in the next 30 days, so things can change fast.
Here's a photo of pyrocumulus cloud over the McDonald fire on Monday, courtesy of the NWS via X/Twitter. The fire was stirred up on Monday afternoon by winds related to nearby thunderstorm activity.
Speaking of thunderstorms, Bettles reported a heavy thunderstorm with quarter-inch hail yesterday. This is unusual but certainly not rare: I found the following hail reports in the last 30 years at Bettles.
May 15, 1997 1/4" hail
May 11, 1998 1/2" hail
June 19, 2000 hail reported but no size specified
June 11, 2002 1/2" hail
July 1, 2005 1/4" hail
June 28, 2008 1/2" hail
May 26, 2017 1/4" hail
July 12, 2017 hail reported but no size specified
June 5, 2019 less than 1/4"
Fairbanks has had fewer hail reports in the same time, but the official data is from the airport, and other parts of town are more prone to thunderstorms.
June 8, 1997 no size specified
August 9, 2002 1/4" hail
May 14, 2012 3/16" (reported as graupel or small hail)
June 2, 2019 3/8" hail (blog post here)
June 16, 2021 less than 1/4"
I believe we have a challenge when it comes to fires that potentially affect health, being allowed through land manager policy, to burn - at first unrestricted. Now there are dwellings being protected, others to the North on alert, and no way to contain such a large acreage. Our natural benefit is increased health risk (PM 2.5 particles), which in winter, would bring all manner of Government oversight to prevent.
ReplyDeleteThey own a problem that we have to endure.
It does seem that the smoke-related hazard should factor into management policy in the vicinity of major settlements. It's not good to allow a hazardous volume of pollutants near large populations, even if produced in a "natural" process.
DeleteTrying to remain apolitical here.....the land in question for the McDonald fire is Military managed acreage. Adjacent are cabins along spring fed 5-Mile Clearwater creek. Across the Tanana River are homes near Harding Lake. A stiff south breeze can lift burning spruce cones to establish a new fire.
DeleteYes, despite the current policy of "let burn for Nature", the resulting air pollution is a real health risk for many. In the end politics may affect a change in their management policy.
And here we have hazardous air quality near North Pole....varies due to wind direction and time of day.
Deletehttps://dec.alaska.gov/air/air-monitoring/responsibilities/database-management/alaska-air-quality-real-time-data/
That's bad. Here's another view:
Deletehttps://map.purpleair.com/1/mAQI/a10/p604800/cC0#8.07/64.697/-147.099
Here's another option to potentially reduce fire driven emissions on Federally Managed land. That may set the tone for future fire control.
Deletehttps://alaskabeacon.com/2024/06/05/an-alaska-wildlife-refuge-is-changing-its-wildfire-strategy-to-limit-carbon-emissions/