Novembers Rainfall Totals for High Country Near Record Lows, Impacting Several Fires but not Christmas Trees
Novembers Rainfall Totals for High Country Near Record Lows, Impacting Several Fires but not Christmas Trees
29 November 2012
published by www.hcpress.com
USA — Novembers Rainfall Totals for High Country Near Record Lows, Impacting Several Fires but not Christmas Trees
While the recent lack of rain hasnt affected Christmas trees and other local agriculture, its played a part in numerous brush fires experienced in and around the High Country during the past several weeks.
Watauga County Ranger Stuart Scott said Watauga has experienced several fires in the past month and District 2 of the N.C. Forest Service which includes Alexander, Burke, Alleghany, Caldwell, Ashe, Watauga, Avery and Wilkes has had upwards of 25 fires.
The lack of humidity hasnt helped either. Scott, who is heading down to Caldwell to perform incident command through the night at the High Eagle Fire, said Watauga County has experienced low humidity in the 20 to 30 percent range everyday recently.
Its been dryer than normal for this time of year, and thats led us to increase our readiness level, so that most of our personnel are on standby for dispatch all the time, Scott said. Its not something that would initiate a burning ban quite yet, but it has definitely has led to increased fire danger and more extreme fire behavior over the past several weeks.
Boone, for example, has had near record lows of rainfall for the month of November. Through Nov. 29, Boone has had .7 inches of rain while the historical average precipitation for the month is 4.25 inches.
According to data compiled by Rays Weather, the most precipitation Boone has ever had for the this month occurred in 1948 with 11.79 inches of rain and the least happened in 2007 with .52 inches of rain.
Currently, most of Western North Carolina is abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, and some portions of Watauga, Caldwell and Ashe are in the moderate drought range, which is one level dryer than abnormally dry.
Meghan Baker, the Christmas tree and commercial horticulture agent for Watauga County Cooperative Extension Center, said the dry weather has not really affected the agriculture community.
Most of the crops we are working with are down, and the ones that are still being grown are in high tunnels with supplemental irrigation, Baker said. With Christmas trees, cold weather early is the main thing that is beneficial for them to set needles, prevent needles from falling off branches.
She added, Luckily that happened early enough, so the Christmas trees are not being affected by the lack of rain.
Looking at the five-day forecast at Rays Weather and the National Weather Service station in Blacksburg, Va., the dry spell will continue. However, a 30 to 40 percent chance of showers exists for next Tuesday and Wednesday.
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmafUgo3
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmafUgo3
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmafUgo3
Two summers of unprecedented rain and unusually cool temperatures have left a large fuel load of grass and unburnt forest areas in and around Canberra.
A network of 500 fire trails and strategic burns along the north-west urban edge, heavy grazing and extra grass slashing will create a fortress for the territory which forecasters say faces a higher than average risk this summer.
After a fire-fuelled tornado in January 2003 killed four Canberrans and frightened thousands more, CSIRO fire expert Phil Cheney told the subsequent inquiry the fire’s penetration into urban areas under extreme conditions did not reflect a failure of fuel management on the urban interface.
Read more:http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/red-alert-for-high-risk-of-fires-20121118-29koa.html#ixzz2CmaXNjum
The failure was in the forest areas.Advertisement
Following a 10-year strategy, ACT fire managers have created a mosaic across the landscape of different fuel levels, burning at every opportunity.
But forests have been too wet to burn this spring and the past two summers.
