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Climate of 2005 Wildfire Season Summary
National Climatic Data Center Last Updated - 13 January 2006
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Global Analysis / Global Hazards / United States Overview / U.S. Drought / Extremes
Use these links to access detailed analyses of Global and U.S. data.
JUNE / JULY / AUGUST / SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER / NOVEMBER / SEASON SUMMARY /
Dead fuel moisture levels across the southern and central Plains states decreased during December. In particular, fine fuel moisture levels (i.e. 10-hour fuels) decreased below 5% across parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and the Front Range of Colorado during the past month.
Medium to larger fuels (i.e. the 30 December 100-hr and 30 December 1000-hr fuel moistures) were also unusually dry for the winter, especially across the Southwest and southern Plains areas.
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), a widely used index for fire risk, had the largest potential for wildland fire activity in the contiguous U.S. across parts of the central and southern Plains at the end of December.
For further information on drought conditions across the U.S. go to the December drought summary page.
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2005 Preliminary wildfire statistics (from NIFC):
Totals from December 31st |
Nationwide Number of
Fires |
Nationwide Number of
Acres Burned |
2005
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64,303 |
8,538,042 |
2004 |
77,534 |
6,790,692 |
2003 |
63,269 |
3,959,223 |
5-yr Avg |
69,082 |
4,311,346 |
Fire Danger Class map from 30 December 2005
Experimental Fire Potential Map on 30 December 2005
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Dead fuel moisture levels across the western U.S. and High Plains slowly increased during November. In particular, fine fuel moisture levels (i.e. 10-hour fuels) increased above 10% across most western states during the past month, with the exception of the southern Plains.
Medium to larger fuels (i.e. the 30 November 100-hr and 30 November 1000-hr fuel moistures) remained moderately dry at the end of November, especially across the Southwest and Great Basin areas.
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), a widely used index for fire risk, had the largest potential for wildland fire activity in the contiguous U.S. across parts of northern and central California and parts of the southern Plains at the end of November.
For further information on drought conditions across the U.S. go to the November drought summary page.
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Year-to-date wildfire statistics (from NIFC):
As of December 9, 2005 |
Nationwide Number of
Fires |
Nationwide Number of
Acres Burned |
2005
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63,529 |
8,581,752 |
2004 |
77,534 |
6,790,692 |
2003 |
63,269 |
3,959,223 |
8-yr Avg |
68,981 |
5,359,935 |
Fire Danger Class map from 30 November 2005
Experimental Fire Potential Map on 30 November 2005
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Dead fuel moisture levels across the western U.S. and High Plains were dry during October. In particular, fine fuel moisture levels (i.e. 10-hour fuels) remained below 5% across most western states during the past month, with the exception of the Pacific Northwest.
Medium to larger fuels (i.e. the 31 October 100-hr and 31 October 1000-hr fuel moistures) were moderately dry at the end of October, especially across the Southwest and Great Basin areas.
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), a widely used index for fire risk, had the largest potential for wildland fire activity in the contiguous U.S. across parts of northern and central California.
For further information on drought conditions across the U.S. go to the October drought summary page.
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Year-to-date wildfire statistics (from NIFC):
As of November 4, 2005 |
Nationwide Number of
Fires |
Nationwide Number of
Acres Burned |
2005
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57,933 |
8,318,527 |
2004 |
77,534 |
6,790,692 |
2003 |
56,085 |
3,726,826 |
10-yr Avg |
73,554 |
5,488,906 |
Fire Danger Class map from 31 October 2005
Experimental Fire Potential Map on 31 October 2005
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As is typical during the early fall, dead fuel moisture levels across the western U.S. and High Plains were dry during September. In particular, fine fuel moisture levels (i.e. 10-hour fuels) remained below 5% across most western states during the past month. Medium to larger fuels (i.e. the 29 September 100-hr and 29 September 1000-hr fuel moistures) were moderately dry at the end of September, especially across the Southwest and Great Basin areas.
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), a widely used index for fire risk, had the largest potential for wildland fire activity in the contiguous U.S. across parts of northern California and coastal Oregon. The potential for large fire development and spreading was evident in the fire danger classification on 29 September 2005, and remained high to very high across parts of the West.
For further information on drought conditions across the U.S. go to the September drought summary page.
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Year-to-date wildfire statistics (from NIFC):
As of September 30, 2005 |
Nationwide Number of
Fires |
Nationwide Number of
Acres Burned |
2005
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53,413 |
8,167,090 |
2004 |
61,355 |
7,732,232 |
2003 |
49,397 |
3,955,472 |
10-yr Avg |
68,659 |
4,498,599 |
Fire Danger Class map from 29 September 2005
Experimental Fire Potential Map on 29 September 2005
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Medium to larger fuels were also extremely dry at the end of August, especially across California, southern Idaho and the Great Basin (i.e. the August 31st 100-hr and August 31st 1000-hr fuel moistures).
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), a widely used index for fire risk, had the largest potential for wildland fire activity in the contiguous U.S. at the end of August across parts of northern California and coastal Oregon, along with a large area of the southern Plains and Gulf Coast region. For further information on drought conditions go to the August drought summary page for the U.S.
The potential for large fire development and spreading was evident in the fire danger classification on 31 August 2005. By the end of this past month, the fire danger classification remained high to very high across parts of the West.
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Year-to-date wildfire statistics (from NIFC):
As of August 31, 2005 |
Nationwide Number of
Fires |
Nationwide Number of
Acres Burned |
2005
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45,804 |
7,447,188 |
2004 |
55,044 |
7,381,166 |
2003 |
44,823 |
2,695,156 |
10-yr Avg |
62,464 |
4,202,249 |
Fire Danger Class map from 31 August 2005
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Medium to larger fuels dried out east of the Cascade Mountain range across the Columbia Plateau during July (i.e. the July 31st 100-hr and July 31st 1000-hr fuel moistures), with 100-hr fuels below 5% over most of eastern Washington and Oregon by the end of the month. The observed fuel moistures at the end of July were a significant change from those measured at the end of June for this region (i.e., see the June 30th 100-hr fuel moistures).
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), a widely used index for fire risk, had the largest potential for wildland fire activity in the contiguous U.S. at the end of July across parts of northern California and coastal Oregon, along with a large area of the southern Plains and Gulf Coast region. For further information on drought conditions go to the July drought summary page for the U.S.
Also note that the potential for large fire development was evident in the fire danger classification at the end of July, which remained very high to extreme across parts of eastern Washington and Montana.
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Year-to-date wildfire statistics (from NIFC):
As of July 31, 2005 |
Nationwide Number of
Fires |
Nationwide Number of
Acres Burned |
2005
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38,371 |
4,673,837 |
2004 |
47,650 |
5,495,416 |
2003 |
36,301 |
1,822,974 |
10-yr Avg |
N/A |
2,700,734 |
Fire Danger Class map from 31 July 2005
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Medium to larger fuels dried out across the region during June (i.e. the June 30th 100-hr and June 30th 1000-hr fuel moistures), with 1000-hr fuels below 10% over most of Arizona by the end of the month. The observed fuel moistures at the end of June were a dramatic change from those measured at the end of May, at which point the area of extremely dry fuels (below 5%) was confined to the lower Colorado River valley for both the medium (May 31st 100-hr) and large (May 31st 1000-hr) fuels.
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI), a widely used index for fire risk, had the largest potential for fire activity in the contiguous U.S. at the end of June across the southern Plains and Gulf Coast region.
The potential for large fire development was also evident in the fire danger classification at the end of June, which remained very high to extreme across most of Arizona and New Mexico.
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Year-to-date wildfire statistics (from NIFC):
As of June 30, 2005 |
Nationwide Number of
Fires |
Nationwide Number of
Acres Burned |
2005
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30,217 |
2,173,746 |
2004 |
38,622 |
1,673,557 |
2003 |
27,286 |
767,018 |
10-yr Avg |
46,441 |
1,984,885 |
Fire Danger Class map from 30 June 2005
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Questions?
For all climate questions other than questions concerning this report, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services Division:
Climate Services Division NOAA/National Climatic Data Center 151 Patton Avenue Asheville, NC 28801-5001 fax: 828-271-4876 phone: 828-271-4800 email: questions@ncdc.noaa.gov
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For further information on the historical climate perspective presented in this report, contact:
David Levinson NOAA/National Climatic Data Center 151 Patton Avenue Asheville, NC 28801-5001 fax: 828-271-4328 email: David.Levinson@noaa.gov
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-or-
Jay Lawrimore NOAA/National Climatic Data Center 151 Patton Avenue Asheville, NC 28801-5001 fax: 828-271-4328 email: Jay.Lawrimore@noaa.gov
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