Weeks on end without any rain, higher-than-normal temperatures and loads of dry fuels littering the ground have set the stage for red-flag fire risk warnings.
It’s not a familiar fall forecast in the Northeast U.S., but drought conditions and human-caused ignitions have sparked unusual fire activity.
Wildfires in New York, New Jersey and nearby states, along with wind-fed burns in California concerns scientists and wildland managers across the nation.
“We’re used to long dry stretches out here in the Southwest due to our seasonality and precipitation,” said Michael Crimmins, a climatologist at the University of Arizona.
“But when it doesn’t rain in the eastern part of the country that’s used to getting rain every couple of days, you can quickly slip into drought conditions.”
A string of wildfires has ignited across the Northeast, from a small burn in Prospect Park in Brooklyn to the 5,000-acre Jennings Creek fire along the New York-New Jersey border, a fire that killed an 18-year-old park ranger.