Northern Rockies could have mild wildfire season

This is a bit like discussing the World Series after the first few games of the regular season but, for what it’s worth, there’s a chance we might have a mild fire season around here this year . . .

It looks to be a busy fire year, but not around here.

Continuing drought and poor snowpack have the nation’s southern states and large parts of the Midwest bracing for smoke and flames as spring moves into summer, according to Ed Delgado of the National Interagency Fire Center. Delgado heads the center’s National Predictive Services Program.

“One of the things we’re having to deal with is the uncertainty in global circulation patterns,” Delgado said during a national teleconference on Thursday. “Whether we transition into a neutral or an El Niño pattern will have dramatically different outcomes for the potential for fire.”

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