Wildfire Season Outlook Pt 1
I’m Bob Larson. On top of everything else in our lives these past few months, some reports are now calling for a bad wildfire season. But, with all the rain it seems we’ve had in recent weeks, it got me to wondering how that could be?
So, I called University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences professor Cliff Mass, who I’ve always trusted for straight answers…
MASS … “In fact, May was much, much wetter than normal. In a number of locations, it was in the top 10 wettest, and we remain locked into this relatively wet and cool pattern for the month of June.”
So, the rest of June looks wet too? …
MASS … “I mean I can see now, a week or two ahead with the best models, and this is going to be a wet period. And so, June is going to come in being probably wetter than normal as well, back to back months that are wetter and cooler than normal. So, that has a huge impact at this point in time.”
And, Mass says the snowpack on April 1st was near normal and that’s the crucial thing they look at …
MASS … “Then we got warmer than normal in parts of April and so it started melting back, but you know, that water was saved. So, for instance, the Yakima reservoir system now is above normal in terms of the water storage there. So, the reservoirs are all in excellent shape.”
Mass says with soil moisture in good shape and precipitation running above normal, things are looking good.
Tune in tomorrow for more.
