Exploring Drought and Wildfire

Vegetation naturally occurring across the landscape and vegetation planted in built environments from landscaping is stored energy for fire. This is depicted in global fire danger rating systems as fuels. Vegetation drying via soil moisture and atmospheric evaporative demand increases fire potential. While this drying establishes an underlying background condition, significant wildfire activity for a given season is dependent on other factors including the type of fuel (grasses versus timber), weather (the extent of heat waves and windy conditions), and topography (the classic fire behavior triangle). A wildfire season is nuanced in its relationship with drought. Did drought enable fine fuel (grass) availability or inhibit its growth? Was a snowpack drought mitigated by spring rains or a lack of summer heatwaves? Did plant evapotranspiration increase fuel flammability even though soil moisture was normal? 

In this virtual seminar, Tim Brown, Desert Research Institute and Western Regional Climate Center, will present on drought and its relation to fire given our current understanding from research and practitioner knowledge.

About the Seminar Series

This event is part of the NOAA Drought Seminar Series, a collaborative effort between NOAA Research's Physical Sciences Laboratory, the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), and the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center. The series aims to enhance NOAA's capability to monitor, predict, and understand drought behavior. Drought is a key part of NOAA Research's science priorities aimed at confronting the challenges of a changing planet. It is also a key focus of National Weather Service operational forecast products and services, supporting stakeholder decision-making and reducing drought-related costs and impacts.

Each session will feature a speaker presentation, a question and answer period with the presenter, and general updates on activities within the drought science and services community. Individual session information, including connection details, is available on the NOAA Drought Seminar Series web page. These seminars will be recorded.

The Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) and National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) are part of NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

For additional information, please contact Andy Hoell with NOAA Research's Physical Sciences Laboratory.