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With the start of Utah's fire season, state officials are concerned that significant fuels and grass growth could lead to prime wildfire conditions in the months ahead. ....
The Neffs Fire burned near Millcreek City. It almost forced evacuations in the Olympus Cove area. Most of Salt Lake County, and Utah for that matter, is in extreme or exceptional drought. Even though the state’s official fire season doesn’t start until June, fire authorities in the county are already gearing up for the 2021 wildfire season. Besides dry conditions, canyons around the Salt Lake Valley are a wildfire danger because forests butt up against urban areas, according to Unified Fire Authority Chief Dan Petersen. “There s a risk living in this area,” Petersen told the Salt Lake County Council Tuesday. “There s really a risk everywhere we are right? Everywhere we live. The canyons offer that concern.” ....
/ A prescribed burn in Wayne County in early February. Over the winter, fire managers burn piles of wood in snowy conditions. Winter storms have brought lots of snow to parts of Utah, but the state is still behind in normal snowpack levels. Up until the end of January, snowpack in the state was only 50-60% of normal, according to Great Basin Predictive Services meteorologist Basil Newmerzhycky. He said the situation was looking “dire” until recent winter storms over the last week or so increased Utah’s average snowpack to 80% of normal. As everyone is digging out across northern Utah this morning, I know a lot of you are wondering, how has this impacted our snowpack? Here is the map on the 14th compared to the map this morning. Nice upward trend in most locations! #utwxpic.twitter.com/28gHsC1Bt9 NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) February 17, 2021 ....