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McKinney Fire in Siskiyou County Briefing and Infrared Maps for Tuesday, August 23, 2022
August 23, 2022 - Two new large fires were reported, one in Idaho and one in North Dakota. Forty-two large fires and complexes have burned 415,323 acres in 10 states. More than 8,500 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents across the country.
Since January 1, 43,720 wildfires have burned 5,998,141 acres in the United States. This continues to be well above the 10-year average of 38,991 wildfires and 5,125,914 acres burned. More than 90% of the total acres burned in 2022 were in the Alaska, Southwest and Southern areas. The fire outlook reflects warmer and drier conditions leading to the potential for above normal wildfire activity throughout the western states and portions of the Southern Area into the fall.
The significant wildland fire potential forecasts represent the cumulative forecasts of the ten Geographic Area Predictive Services units and the National Predictive Services unit. The National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook is updated monthly and posted on the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) predictive services page.
Drier air will move into much of inland Oregon, northeast California, and much of the northern Great Basin with relative humidity of 5-18%. West to southwest winds will be lighter at 10-15 mph with gusts to 25 mph, but locally elevated conditions are possible where terrain enhances the wind. Temperatures will continue to be above normal for the Inland Northwest, northern California, and northern Great Basin as well. Isolated mixed wet and dry thunderstorms are likely from north-central Washington through the Idaho Panhandle into northwest Montana. Scattered mainly wet thunderstorms are expected across central and eastern Montana with isolated thunderstorms into the Dakotas and northern Minnesota. Another day of hot, dry, and breezy conditions are expected for portions of the central and northern Plains. Isolated to scattered monsoon thunderstorms are forecast across the Southwest and Colorado Rockies. Showers and thunderstorms will develop across much of central and south Texas into the Lower Mississippi Valley with locally heavy rain. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely across much of the Northeast, with scattered wet thunderstorms along the Southeast Coast into Florida and the northern Gulf Coast.
Number of new large fires or emergency response * New fires are identified with an asterisk |
2 | States currently reporting large fires: |
Number of active large fires Total does not include individual fires within complexes. |
42 | |
Acres from active fires | 415,323 | |
Fires contained | 5 |
Year-to-date statistics
2022 (1/1/22-8/23/22) | Fires: 43,720 | Acres: 5,998,141 |
2021 (1/1/21-8/23/21) | Fires: 41,197 | Acres: 4,575,051 |
2020 (1/1/20-8/23/20) | Fires: 38,286 | Acres: 3,590,164 |
2019 (1/1/19-8/23/19) | Fires: 32,037 | Acres: 3,874,884 |
2018 (1/1/18-8/23/18) | Fires: 41,827 | Acres: 6,174,297 |
2017 (1/1/17-8/23/17) | Fires: 43,376 | Acres: 6,619,779 |
2016 (1/1/16-8/23/16) | Fires: 39,102 | Acres: 4,296,790 |
2015 (1/1/15-8/23/15) | Fires: 42,519 | Acres: 7,487,737 |
2014 (1/1/14-8/23/14) | Fires: 37,814 | Acres: 2,683,805 |
2013 (1/1/13-8/23/13) | Fires: 32,733 | Acres: 3,492,201 |
2012 (1/1/12-8/23/12) | Fires: 43,104 | Acres: 7,106,319 |
10-year average Year-to-Date
2012-2021 | Fires: 38,991 | Acres: 5,125,914 |
Source: NIFC