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While thunderstorms are usually associated with heavy rain and relieving dry weather, not all thunderstorms produce rainfall and actually can spark wildfires.
Thunderstorms don’t always involve heavy rain. Often when the air above the surface is dry, as can be the case for the High Plains and West, thunderstorms can produce almost no rain at all, despite firing off sparks of lightning. If the ground is dry, these sparks of lightning can lead to wildfires.
Dry fuels across the ground when matched with the extremely hot bolt of lightning can lead to a fire. In addition, thunderstorms can be associated with downdrafts, or cool, sinking air that rushes outward along with gusty winds. These gusty winds can help the wildfire spread rapidly after the initial ignition by the lightning bolt.
Even if a storm does produce rainfall, wildfires can still be sparked if the storm moves through fast enough. Usually, if the rain is limited to less than half an hour, the ground will not be saturated enough to stop a fire from spreading.
While dry thunderstorms are usually limited to the hot summer months, there is an elevated risk earlier in the spring following very dry winters. Thus, it’s important to start preparing now for fire weather across the West where severe and extreme drought is present, even if thunderstorms are in the forecast.
Stay updated with the forecast through WeatherBug this spring and summer and know that thunderstorms aren’t always good news for dry areas.
Source: weather.gov
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