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State of the Climate
U.S. Wildfire
October 2005

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Climatic Data Center

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U.S. Wildfire Report
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U.S. Wildfire Report

Large fires on 31 October 2005
Large fires – 31 October 2005

Wildfire activity diminished across the U.S. during October, as the remaining large fires in the West and Rocky Mountain regions were suppressed. However, several large fires developed in the Great Plains in early November due to dry conditions in the central and southern Plains.

Large fires on 4 November 2005
Large fires – 4 November 2005

Typically, fire activity moves from the Pacific Northwest southward to the Southwest as the Polar jet stream shifts south during autumn. However, above normal precipitation has been observed at the beginnning of the western wet season inhibiting large fire development over the past month.

NASA MODIS image of western U.S. burned areas as of 31 October 2005
NASA MODIS image of western U.S.
burned areas as of 31 Oct. 2005

As reported by the National Interagency Fire Center, over 8.3 million acres have burned across the U.S. by the end of October, which at present ranks the 2005 season as the second worst since 1960 for total acreage burned. Currently the 2000 fire season remains the record year for the U.S. with over 8.4 million acres burned.

Alaska had its second consecutive year with widespread wildfire activity, as over 4.4 million acres have burned this year across the state. As of the end of October 2005 over 3.9 million acres have burned across the remainder of the U.S..

Year–to–date wildfire statistics (from NIFC):
As of November 4, 2005 Nationwide Number of Fires Nationwide Number of Acres Burned
2005 57,933 8,318,527
2004 77,534 6,790,692
2003 56,085 3,726,826
10–year Average 73,554 5,488,906

Dead fuel moisture levels across the western U.S. and High Plains were dry during October. In particular, fine fuel moisture levels (i.e., 10–hour fuels) remained below 5% across most western states during the past month, with the exception of the Pacific Northwest.

31 October 2005 Fire Danger Classification
Fire Danger Class map
from 31 October 2005

Medium to larger fuels (i.e., the 31 October 100–hr and 31 October 1000–hr fuel moistures) were moderately dry at the end of October, especially across the Southwest and Great Basin areas.

31 October 2005 Experimental Fire Potential
Experimental Fire Potential Map
on 31 October 2005

The Keetch–Byram Drought Index (KBDI), a widely used index for fire risk, had the largest potential for wildland fire activity in the contiguous U.S. across parts of northern and central California.

For further information on drought conditions across the U.S. go to the October drought summary page.

Questions?

For questions on technical or scientific content of this report, please contact:

Karsten Shein:
Karsten.Shein@noaa.gov

For general climate monitoring questions, please contact:

CMB.Contact@noaa.gov

For climate data orders, please contact the National Climatic Data Center's Climate Services and Monitoring Division:

NCDC.Orders@noaa.gov

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