Skip to main content

fire weather

Displaying 1 - 4 of 4

Lightning-Ignited Wildfires in the Western United States: Ignition Precipitation and Associated Environmental Conditions

Year of Publication
2023
Publication Type
Cloud-to-ground lightning with minimal rainfall (“dry” lightning) is a major wildfire ignition source in the western United States (WUS). Although dry lightning is commonly defined as occurring with <2.5 mm of daily-accumulated precipitation, a rigorous quantification of precipitation amounts concurrent with lightning-ignited wildfires (LIWs) is lacking.

Dry Live Fuels Increase the Likelihood of Lightning-Caused Fires

Year of Publication
2023
Publication Type

Live fuel moisture content (LFMC) is a key determinant of landscape ignition potential, but quantitative estimates of its effects on wildfire are lacking. We present a causal inference framework to isolate the effect of LFMC from other drivers like fuel type, fuel amount, and meteorology.

Contrasting the role of human- and lightning-caused wildfires on future fire regimes on a Central Oregon landscape

Year of Publication
2021
Publication Type

Climate change is expected to increase fire activity in many regions of the globe, but the relative role of human vs. lightning-caused ignitions on future fire regimes is unclear. We developed statistical models that account for the spatiotemporal ignition patterns by cause in the eastern slopes of the Cascades in Oregon, USA.