Winter rains bring spring flowers. And those bring summer wildfires. Unfortunately that's the price we have to pay around here.
As predicted, we're having a bit of a rough time here in the desert Southwest. Since May, there's usually been a small brush fire or two every day in the Phoenix metro area. Now that we're into summer, the fires are getting more frequent - and bigger.
At the beginning of the week there was one in the high desert that closed down I-17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff for a bit. Since there were no thunderstorms around and the fire started right along the highway, everyone knows it was some yutz who tossed a cigarette out his/her car window. What - is your ashtray broken? Idiot.
But by midweek, it was nature starting the fires. Our weather pattern has changed a bit this week, allowing for the formation of thunderstorms in the desert. Unfortunately, there's not enough moisture yet to produce much - if any - rain. Just lots of lightning.
There's now a 46000-acre fire complex on the north and east fringes of the Phoenix metro area. Many homes were in danger, but that seems to have passed for now. We've been fortunate to have a little rainfall on some parts of the fire.
On Wednesday the plumes of smoke were quite spectacular. They looked to me like the pictures of pyroclastic clouds from volcanic eruptions. Now and then, despite the distance, you can smell the smoke. Last night was rather odd - I could smell the mixture of humid air and smoke.
It's supposed to clear up, dry out, and cool off (into the low 100's) this weekend, but the winds are supposed to pick up, too. Could be dicey.
Meanwhile, we are about two weeks away from the average start of our monsoon weather pattern. This sometimes causes more fires initially, but eventually our fire danger here should taper off. Pray for rain.
Above photo by Rob Schumacher, Arizona Republic, June 23, 2005
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