Region is experiencing an unusually warm spring, raising concerns of fierce wildfire season amid limited resources
Unusually warm springtime temperatures have contributed to rapid reductions in snowpacks across the western US that rival the fastest rates on record, increasing concerns around wildfire season.
The rapid snowmelt, in addition to reduced staffing and budget constraints initiated by the Trump administration, has set the stage for a particularly dangerous season across the west, according to an analysis of publicly available data by the Guardian and interviews with experts in the region.
The National Weather Service has issued flash flood warnings across the south-west this week as warm weather ushered in rainfall at higher-than-usual elevations, worsening the runoff. In several lower-elevation locations within the headwaters of the Colorado River, mountain terrain is already snow-free – the earliest complete melting of snowpack on record.
“Such rapid melt rates are not normal,” according to a special update by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) last month.
