Fire Update

A quick update on fire: the weather is now changing significantly, but the hot conditions of the last several days have pushed statewide fire acreage up to 371,000 acres, per the AICC's daily report.  That total is now above the historical median for the date.

Unfortunately for Fairbanks, almost a third of the acreage has accrued in the nearby McDonald fire, and air quality was atrocious in town yesterday, with the visibility reported as low as 1/4 mile at the airport.  The last time the visibility was that low from smoke (not fog) was way back in 2005.

The following chart illustrates the relationship between the 7-day increase in statewide fire acreage and the weekly-mean high temperature in Fairbanks.  For reference, the latest 7-day mean high temperature in Fairbanks was 81.6°F.

Of course there's much more to fire growth than just high temperature - there have been large acreage increases with quite chilly temperatures in the past - but the warmest weeks do tend to produce at least moderately large acreage gains, as we would expect.