Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Alaska Wildfires in June 2015 Have Surpassed June 2004, Which Was a Record Wildfire Year

Chris Dolce
Published: June 30,2015




 
The number of wildfires and acres burned in Alaska in June 2015 has exceeded what the state saw during the same month in 2004, a year considered the worst for wildfires in the state.
According to the Alaska DNR - Division of Forestry, a combined 1.6 million acres have been burned by 399 separate fires in the state this month through June 29. That is nearly double the number of fires in June 2004, which had 215 wildfires that charred 1.15 million acres.
The Associated Press reported that 314 wildfires remained active over more than 2,265 square miles as of Monday. No new evacuations occurred this past weekend, however residents in some small communities left in voluntary evacuations last week, including elders, children and those that were medically vulnerable.
Widespread smoke across Alaska's interior on June 24, 2015. The red locators show where fires were active on that day.
(NASA)




























Most of the fires in June 2004 were located in Alaska's interior, while this June they have been scattered throughout the state, Alaska DNR said. They added that it was unusual to have this concentration of fire starts.
Lightning strikes were a major contributor to the ignition of wildfires in both June 2015 and June 2004. However, Alaska DNR says that June 2015 has had much more lightning than June 2004. In a span of three days from June 21-23, 2015, about 50,000 lightning strikes were recorded across the state.
The largest wildfire in the state is the Iditarod River Fire, which had burned 98,183 acres through June 28. That wildfire and the other top 10 largest wildfires in Alaska through June 28 were all started by lightning strikes.
Active fire locations on June 30, 2015.
(NIFC/NASA/NOAA/USFS)
When looking at the year as a whole, the number of acres burned still trails 2004 considerably. A massive 6.59 million acres were burned in that record year. That's eight times the average number of acres burned per year in Alaska.

MORE: Flooding on Alaska's Dalton Highway in May 2015

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