It may come as a surprise that in Spring, while we watch the rivers, hoping for an orderly ice-out, we also need to be aware of wildfires.
In fact, the New Brunswick village, Perth-Andover, had to deal with one, then the other, in two consecutive years!
In 2012, there was the severe ice jam flooding there, then in 2013 there were the NW New Brunswick wildfires.
In northern Maine and western NB it is possible to have high fire danger with snow still on the ground in places. This is because the brush has yet to green-up, and is thus very dry, a perfect fire fuel. When you add to that the “fire recipe,” wind and dry air, fires can easily spread. When the relative humidity is below 35 percent, the air is considered quite dry, and it is effective in wicking (or pulling) what moisture there is, out of the brush. A breezy day will further dry things out. You can find both of these values (relative humidity and wind speed) by googling on “NWS CAR” (the homepage of the Caribou National Weather Service office), and then go to the drop-down under “Current Conditions.” This is the second option from the left, immediately above the map of Maine. Once the drop down displays, choose the item at the top, called “Observations (List).” For wind speed, one can also estimate it by using something called the Beaufort Scale. Check it out online. It’s a handy tool when wind speed matters, and all you need are your eyes!
When the fire danger is very high, The National Weather Service will issue a Red Flag Warning, but I always recommend against Spring burning when the RH is below 35 percent and the wind gusts get to 20 mph or higher.
Maine actually has two wildfire seasons (when they would tend to be most likely), and they are Spring and Fall. There have been two infamous wildfires, the 1911 fire which destroyed a good hunk of downtown Bangor was a Spring fire, while the 1947 fire, which gutted a number of Bar Harbor’s famed hotels was an autumn fire.
A very important note about wildfires is that they can advance very rapidly! Embers are often blown out well in advance of the wall of flame.
I’ll close by returning to ice on the rivers. This was a mild winter, and the ice never got very thick. However, with respect to ice-out and potential ice jamming, the thickness of the ice does not matter. Ice jams are always a threat in Spring, regardless of the severity of the preceding winter.
Ted Shapiro holds the Broadcast Seal of Approval from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. An Alexandria, Va. native, he has been chief meteorologist at WAGM-TV since 2006. Email him at tshapiro@wagmtv.com.
