Wildfires break out in Western states amid hottest week

NEW YORK: Death Valley soared to a blistering 128 degrees, and Denver saw a rare hat trick of three 100degree days in a row. Tucson saw eight straight days of temperatures 110 degrees or higher, breaking the record for the number of consecutive days above that barrier and making it the city's hottest week. Phoenix endured a record-setting six straight days of temperatures 115 or higher.

All of this heat contributed to a high fire danger which came to fruition over the weekend when multiple blazes broke out in several Western states including California, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon. The Willow Fire in Monterey County, which forced evacuations Friday, continued to burn over the weekend sending smoke billowing into the Bay Area.

The Cow Fire in Shasta County also prompted evacuation orders, and at one point Sunday required a large air tanker to be diverted off the Willow Fire for increased firefighting efforts.

On Monday, 7 million people were under red flag warnings across six Western states where the combination of hot temperatures, wind gusts to 40 mph and bone-dry humidity lead to a critical fire threat. Las Vegas was included in the risk zone for the fire danger.

The most recent heat wave was focused over portions of the Four Corners, desert Southwest and Southern and Central California. Next week, however, the area of most exceptional heat could park over northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

This will lead to another week with a high risk of wildfires due to the already desiccated landscape void of much precipitation whether falling from the sky or locked in the mostly-melted snowpack. With ground fuels already sitting at highly flammable and record-dry levels, all experts can do is warn people of the impending danger and hope for the best in what has already proven to be an early and destructive start to the Western wildfire season.

With climate change making heat waves three times more likely compared to 100 years ago and contributing to the current 22-year megadrought, wildfire seasons are starting earlier and lasting longer into the year. As the gap closes, experts say there isn't so much a defined wildfire season in the West anymore, but instead it lasts year round.