| 2020 Weather Highlights | The Year in Pictures | Top 5 Weather Stories | Hydrology & Drought Status | Fire Weather | Records & Extremes | Monthly Review | Severe Weather |
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2020 New Mexico Fire Weather Overview
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Fire Weather Summary 2020 Overview 2020 ended up being a below average fire season in New Mexico. The total number of wildfire acreage and ignitions ended up below average. The number of emergency responder and land agency site specific (spot) forecast requests were also below average. Red Flag Warnings are issued in New Mexico to highlight periods of strong wind, low relative humidity, an unstable atmosphere and dry fuels. The number of Red Flag Warning days was below average. Medium to large sized fires did impact the state (Figure 1). The Medio fire burned 3,775 acres in the Santa Fe National Forest 12 miles northeast of Santa Fe, NM. The cause of the fire was lightning. The Luna fire, located 2 miles north of Chacon, NM, burned 10,142 acres. The cause of the Luna fire remains under investigation.
Pre-significant green up period of February and March was not at all active with wildfire. Conditions were relatively wet in February and March with above average precipitation statewide.
Dry conditions returned in April and May. Fire danger peaked in June, which is typical for New Mexico. Dry early summer conditions eventually gave way to increased low-level moisture related to the North American Monsoon (NAM) during early July but only lasted for several weeks before dry air returned in late July and through much of August.
Active prescribed burning occurred during the late summer to fall period. October and November were dry and windier than average which allowed the Luna fire to grow rapidly. Pile and several small unit burns continued into early December.
Figure 1. Large fires in New Mexico during 2020. Red polygons are fire perimeters. Graphic courtesy of NIFC.
Figure 2. Total number of acres burned in New Mexico in 2020. The number of acres burned in 2020 was 140,450, below to well below the 20-year average of 291,046 acres.
Figure 3. Total lightning caused acreage burned in New Mexico since 2000. 2020 was below the 20-year average of 146,611 acres with 107,618 burned.
Figure 4. Acreage for human caused fires in 2020 was 17,862, well below the average acreage of 129,904.
Figure 5. Total number of fires per year in New Mexico since 2000. 2020 was below the 20-year average of 1400 fires with 926.
Figure 6. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Albuquerque issued Red Flag Warnings for 56 separate days during 2020. That is 39 days more compared to 2019. The average number of days since 2000 is 39. Warnings are issued to highlight the combination of weather and fuel dryness that promote critical fire behavior and fire growth. A total of 427 site specific or spot forecast requests were made to NWS Albuquerque in 2020. The average number since 2000 is 521. |
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