No, we are not talking about California and the Southwestern U.S., but a 15-state stretch in the Southeastern part of the country. In October, Digital Journal reported that this part of the country was suffering from “significant” drought conditions.
Wildfires have broken out in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina, and sadly, some of them have been set on purpose. Three arson arrests have been made in Tennessee and Kentucky as forests burn in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Arson charges and arrests
Police in Georgia are looking for a man driving a dark blue SUV who may be responsible for setting several fires in Georgia, while in North Carolina, arson is suspected in 20 fires burning across the state line in a national forest.
There are also 14 wildfires burning on Cherokee nation land in North Carolina, all of them under investigation by law enforcement as being arson. The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs is seeking information and has set up an arson “Hotline.
Tennessee declares state of emergency
ABC News is reporting the unrelenting drought conditions and wildfires have forced Tennessee to declare a state of emergency. Wildfires have burned over 9,000 acres in the eastern part of the state and more than 60 percent of the state’s water systems are experiencing moderate to exceptional drought conditions.
Three Tennessee counties are reporting their wells are now completely dry. Exceptional drought conditions are designated as “D-4” on the U.S. Drought Monitor. Under D-4 conditions, there will be exceptional and widespread crop and pasture losses, and shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells creating water emergencies.
North Carolina is also under a state of emergency with over 7,500 acres already burned in the western part of the state. In Georgia, the huge Rough Ridge fire grew rapidly in the last 24 hours, with 10,000 acres burning just south of the Georgia-Tennessee Line.
Forecast not looking good for the next few weeks, or more
Weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce says that with no precipitation for the past few weeks, the drought has continued to deepen. No rain is forecast for the next week or so, either. The number one problem firefighters are facing now is the winds, blowing at 25 to 35 mph.
NASA imagery on Thursday picked up more than 30 wildfires that have ignited since the Maple Springs fire in North Carolina started on Nov. 4. Over 5,000 firefighters from across the nation have joined in to help fight the fires, according to Shardul Raval, U.S. Forest Service Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the Southern Region.
The long-standing drought has created an extremely dry fuel level, say fire officials, and because of this, the fires burn deep into the ground and continue to smolder. This and the blowing winds have forced firefighters to stay in some areas longer than they normally would.
The severe drought conditions are expected to continue and could become even worse, depending on what kind of impact we will see from the La Nina weather pattern. Typically, La Nina brings dry and warmer than average conditions to a region.
