SALT LAKE CITY — New data shows Utah’s always dangerous wildfire season is only getting longer, growing anywhere from an additional two weeks to more than a month in some areas, according to a climate research group.
"Climate change is definitely pushing all the ingredients behind wildfire risk in the west," explained climatologist Jon Meyer with the Utah Climate Center.
Meyer shared how new numbers out Wednesday showing an extended wildfire season in the state aligns with what they’re seeing.
"It’s a very clear signal," he said. "Just about everywhere you look in the west, and many places across the planet, that’s been a multidecadal trend that we’re seeing.
Why Utah fire crews are so concerned about upcoming fire season:
Fire weather days are those that include higher temperatures, lower humidity, and extended windy conditions, which increase the chances of wildfires. The new analysis shows the season rose by about two weeks along the Wasatch Front from 1973 to 2024 and more than a month in the western part of the state.
"So, just more days of the year where we have chances just mean that we have more likely outcomes any given year where a wildfire pops up," Meyer added.
The warning comes as near-record heat is forecast for this coming weekend.
"That’s indicative of the warm season expanding later into the fall and earlier into the spring, you get more summerlike conditions," said Meyer.
Here's what Utahns should know about the health hazards of wildfire smoke:
The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands sees fires all year, but its main window is normally from June through September, and sometimes into October.
Kelli Wicken, a wildfire prevention specialist for the agency, said they’ve grown used to the recent heightened fire danger due to the severe drought conditions in the southern part of the state and drought conditions across most of the rest, but recent wet years aren’t necessarily helping.
"For June, we are expecting above normal fire potential, especially in southern Utah, in the middle and higher elevations, but we are also expecting to see it in the lower elevation because we have vegetation from carryover from good snowpack years," she explained.
But Wicken touts some advancements in Utah’s own statistics in human-caused wildfires.
"We kept our human-caused starts to 57 percent, which is quite a bit less than the national average."
Human-caused starts usually make up 87 percent of wildfires in most states, proving that those little things you do to be firewise make a big difference, especially as we head into the height of this hot and dry season ahead, which is now longer than ever.
