Wildfire Potential Pt 1 - AG INFORMATION NETWORK OF THE WEST aginfo.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aginfo.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(NAFB) – Drought conditions are good reason for concern about the upcoming wildfire season in the West, but this is more likely related the La Nina year we’re having than anything related to climate change or global warming.
That’s according to University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences professor Cliff Mass, who says, right now, there is no reason to panic.
Dry Conditions Pt 2 I’m Bob Larson. Drought conditions are good reason for concern about the upcoming wildfire season, but this is more likely related the La Nina year we’re having than anything related to climate change or global warming.
University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences professor Cliff Mass says yes things are dry, but there should be plenty of water in the rivers …
MASS … “You know, we’re starting with a dry spring, but with a good snowpack. So, upper elevations, there’s plenty of snow. There’s water melting there, you know, that’s not bad. But, if you go lower down, right, you go to Eastern Washington where you get into more of the chaparral grass stuff, you know, that’s drying out early. There’s no doubt about that.”
Dry Conditions Pt 1
But, according to University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences professor Cliff Mass, it’s no reason to panic …
MASS … “The snowpack is in excellent shape right now for much of the region. In fact, in some places really good. I mean, I’m looking at it right now, it’s the SNOTEL. On the Western side, it ranges from 112% to 189% of normal.”
So, how did we arrive at plenty of snowpack yet drought conditions?
MASS … “This was a La Nina year. And so, the snowpack was above normal during the winter, which is pretty La Nina’esque. And, even the pattern that’s drying us out is La Nina’esque because La Nina is often associated with enhanced ridging and high pressure in the Eastern Pacific and a lot of Northwesterly flow which sometimes can be dry, but it often brings a lot of snow to the mountains and that’s basically what happened.”