Vince_Condella's Blog

While we froze under a brisk northeast wind on Monday, the southwest U.S. sizzled once again.  It has been a hot and dry week for southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, southern Utah and southern Nevada with little relief in sight.  And while that may sound great to us here in the chilly Midwest, the residents of the west and southwest are bracing for another fierce fire season.

The southwest U.S. has been suffering under drought for nearly 10 years.  A fairly wet winter two years ago allowed a lot of brush to grow in the spring, and that made for adequate fuel to burn during the 2007 fire season.  Now conditions are setting up for yet another nasty season of flame, which can extend from now right into next autumn.

Winter is the time of year when the southwest, including southern California, gets the majority of their rainfall.  Huge wet weather systems come onshore in California and can drop a lot of rainfall on the west coast.  Mudslides are common in California, and sometimes flash flooding can occur in Arizona when too much rain falls in a short amount of time.  The hardpack of the desert acts like a concrete floor and moisture has a tough time getting absorbed into the ground.

Now the desert plants are blooming and the brush is getting lush - perfect fuel to burn.  Dewpoints out west are very dry and many counties are under "red flag" alerts for high fire danger.  Aggravating the problem in summer will be the "dry" thunderstorm.  These are storms like we get here in the Midwest, except with low-level air so dry, most of the raindrops evaporate before reaching the ground.  However, the deadly lightning bolts still reach the ground and can spark wildfires.

We have our share of weather problems here in Wisconsin, but we don't have to contend with the mudslides in winter and the wildfires in spring and summer.  It just proves there is no perfect place to live, and nature always has the final word.