NWS: Wet spring made for mild 2010 fire season
By Bill Lindelof, Sacramento Bee
Northern California avoided a bad wildland fire season last year in part due to a cool, wet spring and fairly mild summer, according to an analysis by the National Weather Service.
A total of 35,674 acres burned in Northern California in 2010 — the smallest amount in the last 12 years, according to the report.
Storms marched through the region almost every week in April and May, according to the Sacramento Fire Weather Annual Summary. Temperatures were 3.4 degrees below normal in April and 4 degrees below normal in May.
Some spots in the mountains and foothills got about 5 inches more precipitation than normal in May. And May rains caused a second crop of green grass to sprout below the 2,000-feet elevation level.