US National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Update for the Week Ending April 21st

The US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) is reporting that as of Friday (4-21-23), wildfire activity has occurred or is occurring in several Southern, Eastern, Southwest, and Rocky Mountain areas, with 54 large new fires reported. Wildland firefighters and support personnel are working towards containment goals on 20 large fires that have burned 14,812 acres in 11 states.

The NIFC National Fire Preparedness Level is currently at a level 1 out of a possible 5, even as the wildfire season begins to accelerate.

The number of large new fires or emergency responses as of Friday was 54. The number of active large fires stands at 20 (not including individual fires within complexes). Currently there are 14,812 acres involved in active fires. The total number of wildfires fires contained stands at 51. The states currently reporting large wildfires are Oklahoma with 4; Kentucky with 3; Florida, Kansas, Nebraska, New Jersey with 2 each; and Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and West Virginia with 1 each.

The NIFC offers the following year-t0-date comparison:

• Between 1/1/23 and 4/21/23, 11,910 wildfires have been reported and they have burned 351,821 acres.
• Between 1/1/22 and 4/21/22, 7,239 wildfires had been reported and they had burned 834,238 acres.
• The 10-year average (2013–22) for the same period is 14,380 wildfires and 699,697 acres burned.

Elevated to critical fire weather conditions due to dry and windy weather are likely in much of New Mexico and on portions of the central Plains today into Saturday. As an upper-level trough approaches and moves through the West, dry and windy conditions are expected across western and southern portions of the Great Basin, much of the Southwest, and onto the southern High Plains early to mid-next week. Pre-frontal dry and potentially breezy conditions are likely across portions of the southern and central Appalachians into the Mid-Atlantic today, but scattered to widespread rainfall is likely across much of the Appalachians and East Coast today into Sunday.