BOISE, Idaho — The National Interagency Fire Center is predicting above normal risk for wildfires in Graham, Greenlee and Cochise counties in June, but the risk drops off the rest of the summer.
In its most recent outlook, published June 1, the wildfire risk is above normal throughout the desert Southwest in June, before the risk moves to the West, Northwest and northern Plains in July through September.
The U.S. Drought Monitor is also showing extreme drought conditions in Graham, Greenlee and Cochise counties, with exceptional drought conditions — the worst level of drought — in the southeast corner of Cochise along the international and New Mexican borders.
“Overall drought decreased across the US since late May with just over 31 percent of the U.S. in drought as of May 27, a decrease in area of almost 6 percent. Drought persisted in the southwestern U.S., but with a modest improvement in the Lower Colorado River Valley, while drought intensified in southern Arizona into southwest New Mexico,” the report reads.
