The 11th Conference on Applied Climatology

5.4
DECADAL VARIATIONS IN FOREST FIRE ACTIVITY IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Philip W. Mote, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA; and W. S. Keeton and J. F. Franklin

Forest fires in the Pacific Northwest show variations on interannual and interdecadal timescales. Area burned by forest fires in the era before widespread fire suppression was much larger in years when the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) was in its positive phase. At the scale studied here, no significant relationship with El Nino exists. The number of lightning-caused fires per year shows no relationship with either El Nino or the PDO.


The 11th Conference on Applied Climatology