Increased fire danger to plague southwestern US into July 4 as destructive blazes burn
As dozens of wildfires burn across the southwestern United States, gusty winds will heighten the fire danger through at least July Fourth.
Firefighters were battling more than two dozen large wildfires across the Southwest on Sunday.
This includes the Spring Creek Fire, which has charred over 60,000 acres since starting on Wednesday, according to Inciweb.
The blaze is burning in between Walsenburg and Alamosa in south-central Colorado. Some structures have been destroyed. There are evacuation orders in the vicinity of the fire.
The fire was only 5 percent contained as of Monday evening.
Jesper Joergensen, 52, has been arrested for starting the fire, according to ABC News. On Saturday, a drone forced officials to halt firefighting operations from the air.
Meanwhile, a flareup of the Pawnee Fire amid breezy conditions led to more mandatory evacuations on Saturday evening. Residents in the Double Eagle subdivision in Lake County were forced to flee their homes.
The fire was 75 percent contained as of Monday evening, Cal Fire reported, but has charred 14,800 acres and destroyed 22 buildings.
Between the Pawnee Fire and Sacramento, mandatory evacuation orders are also in place as the County Fire has burned 60,000 acres as of Monday evening and remains only 5 percent contained.
A firefighter scrambles to stop the Pawnee fire as it spots across Highway 20 near Clearlake Oaks, California, on Sunday, July 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
On Sunday, smoke from the Lake and Yolo County Fires moved into the Bay Area, causing the sky in San Francisco to appear orange.
A discolored sky over San Francisco on Sunday. (Photo/Alex Shyba).
The weather is not expected to provide significant wildfire relief this week.
"With much of the Southwest still experiencing exceptional drought conditions, the threat of new and spreading wildfires is continuously present," AccuWeather Meteorologist Faith Eherts said.
"It is expected to become windier again leading up to July Fourth," Eherts added. Such winds can whip across the Great Basin and through the Four Corners region. Lighter winds should assist firefighters in Northern California.
Once again, residents and visitors will have to take the necessary precautions amid holiday celebrations to protect against new wildfires starting and be ready to evacuate in the event a wildfire threatens.
"It is especially important for residents and campers to take every precaution in avoiding sparking a fire," Eherts said.
Use extreme caution when dealing with grills, campfires, cigarette butts and any other activity that involves sparks. Be sure to abide by firework bans.
"In windy conditions, even a small brush fire can spread and grow into a devastating wildfire in the span of just hours," according to Eherts.
An afternoon and evening thunderstorm can dot a few parts of the region during the holiday week. As is typical before the monsoon sets in, these thunderstorms may do more harm than good by kicking up gusty winds. Lightning strikes outside of where it is raining can spark new blazes.
There can be an uptick in thunderstorms across the Four Corners region later in the week as moisture from the storm set to soak the upper Gulf Coast into July Fourth arrives.
Looking ahead to the rest of July, AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok anticipates improving weather for firefighting efforts across the Four Corners region.
"Moderate to extreme drought will be dented somewhat [in this area] with increased monsoonal moisture in July," he said. "Watch for big dust storms in Arizona in this type of weather pattern."
Odds favor near- to above-normal rainfall over this region into August.
However, Pastelok anticipates drier-than-normal weather to cause the drought to worsen, heat to intensify and fire danger to increase across California and Nevada from July into August.
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