US National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Update for August 22, 2022: 2 New Wildfires Reported

The US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported on Monday (8-22-22) that the total number of large wildfires and complexes currently burning in the US has been reduced to 48 with more than 774,562 acres across 11 different states currently burning. Two large new wildfires have been reported within the past 24 hours.

Most of the wildfire activity is now located in Montana, where there are 13 wildfires currently burning. There are 11 wildfires burning in Idaho and 6 in Oregon. There are 5 wildfires currently burning in Alaska and California, and 2 wildfires burning in Arizona and Washington state. There is 1 wildfire in New Mexico, North Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming.

The NIFC is reporting that as of Monday (8-22-22) only 5 of the 48 wildfires have been partially contained, and those containments were achieved on Sunday (8-21-22). There are now 8,600 wildland firefighters and support personnel assigned to these incidents.

The current number of wildfires remains well ahead of 2021, which up until now held the record high level, and is more than double the 10-year average. The NIFC offers this simple comparison:

• From 1/1/22 through 8/22/22, 43,427 wildfires have been reported and they have burned 5,967,808 acres.
• From 1/1/21 through 8/22/21, 41,122 wildfires had been reported and they had burned 4,586,155 acres.
• The NIFC notes that the 10-year average (2012–2021) for the same time period was 38,799 wildfires reports which had consumed 4,839,829 acres.

NIFC meteorologists continue to see an ongoing pattern of hot, humid but dry, and windy conditions for the next 7 days in the Pacific Northwest, California, Washington State, Idaho, and Montana, with the possibility of isolated dry thunderstorms every day during for the week. Elsewhere, the NIFC weather team expects isolated to scattered monsoon thunderstorms will develop across eastern Arizona, New Mexico, and the Colorado Rockies. Heavy rain will likely develop across much of Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley. Scattered thunderstorms are on tap for the Northeast and will extended southward along the East Coast into Florida.