WOAY-TV (Oak Hill, WV): The data shows a clear trend in acreage burned in the New River Gorge National Park during recent severe drought episodes.
In the last three severe droughts during the autumn season for the New River Gorge National Park, there is an upward trend in acres burned.
- In 2002, no acres were burned from wildfires during the severe drought then.
- In 2007, half of an acre was burned from a total of four fires.
- In 2019, five acres burned.
In the last decade, there has been a big ramp up in acreage burned. The polynomial line plotted shows a strong correlation to increasing gains in wildfire acres burned in the New River Gorge National Park.
We have a dry streak going forward. Historically, three out of the top five dry streaks in the region started in September. So, we’re not favored historically for rain this month.
Between September 15 and 19th, there is no strong signal for much rain either. So, the bottom line is we’ve seen an increase in the number of acres in the park. We are particularly vulnerable this season because of the enhanced drought and the best advice here is to not burn brush through the entire fall season.
The bushfire season is already underway in parts of the region, including eastern Kanawha County, where a brush fire broke out September 9th. The photo in the video linked to this article shows the brush fire and was sent in by Maddy Hancock.
