Wildfire Risks Rise as Deadly Heat Builds Across the Parched West

Sizzling temperatures combined with dry fuels and forecast high winds are posing an extreme threat to life and property in some areas.

ImaGeo iconImaGeo
By Tom Yulsman
Jun 14, 2021 12:15 AMJun 14, 2021 12:20 AM
WFPI
This map shows the potential for ignition of large wildfires on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. The color coded index is based on several factors, including the amount of dry and dead fuels, and forecast wind speeds, temperatures, and rainfall. The orange areas in this map are forecast to have more than a 10-fold increased risk in large wildfire potential. (Source: USGS)

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A perfect storm of several unusual factors is bringing dangerous and potentially record-breaking heat to the western and north-central United States.

Temperatures across this sprawling swath of territory are forecast to be 15 to 30 degrees above average this week, thanks to an anomalously strong ridge of high atmospheric pressure coinciding with the high angle of the Sun in June and extremely dry soils.

The already parched Southwest and portions of the Intermountain West will be particularly hard hit. "Places such as Las Vegas, NV and Phoenix, AZ will experience  temperatures into the 110s nearly every day [this] week," according to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center.

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