Drought, wildfire and record-breaking heat are all part of the current climate landscape in the Mountain West.
It鈥檚 a triple whammy that鈥檚 expected to continue into the coming months.
Aside from New Mexico, all states in the region experienced above-average temperatures . According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials, 2020 has a pretty good shot of .
Extreme drought across Nevada, Utah and Colorado. Those conditions are helping fuel some of the largest wildfires in our region鈥檚 recorded history.
鈥淓verybody that may not think they are being directly impacted by the drought, if you had days where you couldn鈥檛 go outside because the smoke was so thick, that is partially due to drought that has helped these wildfires grow,鈥� said Becky Bolinger, a climatologist at the Colorado Climate Center.
The Cameron Peak Fire in Colorado is the biggest fire in state history at over 200,000 acres. In Wyoming, the Mullen Fire has burned over 175,000 acres. Both fires have contributed to poor air quality along the Front Range.
Drought conditions are expected to continue throughout the region into the fall and winter.
鈥淲hat we see today is what we kind of saw coming 10 or 20 years ago, and what that suggests for the future is we鈥檙e gonna see things get worse 鈥� drought intensifying, fires more severe and widespread,鈥� said Waleed Abdalati, the director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Idaho and Montana may see some relief. This year鈥檚 La Ni帽a is forecasted to bring above-average snow and colder temperatures to both of those states.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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