ENVIRONMENT
Crews respond to 15 lightning-caused fires across NM in 8 days
Meteorologists say monsoon has 'underperformed' due to strong, high-pressure weather system
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Moody late-summer skies typically bring a mix of fire and water to New Mexico鈥檚 landscape, but not in their usual proportions so far this season.
A crooked plume of smoke rising from a 10-acre wildfire in the Santa Fe National Forest near Namb茅 on Tuesday marked the 15th lightning-caused fire discovered in the state鈥檚 national forests in just eight days, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Santa Fe Hotshots climbed into steep terrain in the Pecos Wilderness west of Sierra Mosca on Wednesday to reach the Frijoles Fire as aircraft dropped fire retardant overhead.
The blaze is one of four to ignite in the Santa Fe National Forest over the past week as lightning storms in central and eastern New Mexico find ample natural fuels to burn amid below-average rainfall.
In the Santa Fe National Forest, firefighters also responded to the 6-acre Lodin Fire and the smaller Spring Fire this week. Both were spotted Monday from the Cerro Pelado Lookout tower in Sandoval County.
Over 100 miles to the south, in the Cibola National Forest, a fire watcher at Capilla Peak Lookout also reported smoke from the Sand Springs Fire on July 31, following lightning strikes in the Mountainair Ranger District. The fire had grown to 30 acres by Wednesday evening, according to the Forest Service.
Firefighters on Monday began suppression efforts on the nearby Box Fire, which is estimated at under a tenth of an acre south of Red Canyon and the Box Canyon Trailhead in the Cibola. It is also believed to be lightning-caused.
Both fires were still smoldering Wednesday after wildland personnel responded to nine other small blazes in federal forests and grasslands in the Cibola since July 28.
Meteorologists say lightning strikes are igniting fuels across landscapes choked with dry trees, brush and debris usually saturated with rainfall by this time each year.
鈥淪o far this season, the monsoon has underperformed,鈥� said David Craft, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. 鈥淲e've had a high-pressure system situated largely over the state or near the state. It's been very strong, so that's just been keeping us hotter and drier than average.鈥�
While some areas of western New Mexico have seen normal or slightly above average rainfall so far this summer, many other parts of the state have seen 1-4 inches less rainfall when compared to a typical monsoon season.
In central parts of the state, from Taos down to El Paso, New Mexicans have received anywhere between 25% and 50% of normal precipitation for this time of year, according to meteorologist Michael Anan.
Meanwhile, the state鈥檚 eastern third has seen about 25% of normal rainfall levels after powerful winds this spring and early summer burned tens of thousands of acres across the plains region.
Forecasters say moisture is on the horizon for next week, but rainfall may continue to favor New Mexico鈥檚 western lands.
鈥淣ext week is looking wetter,鈥� Anan said. 鈥淭he weather conditions are going to be favoring western New Mexico as it does look like some sort of monsoon plume steps up. Most of it will be over Arizona, but western New Mexico looks to be on the eastern edge of that monsoon plume.鈥�
John Miller is the Journal鈥檚 northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.
