Snowpack reduces risk of wildfires in Sierra — for now
By Jeff Delong, Reno Gazette-Journal
A hefty mountain snowpack and a cool, moist spring will reduce risks of major wildfires in Northern Nevada and the Sierra through June, fire experts said Thursday.
Fire danger will be a little greater this month in a drier Southern Nevada, while grass crops nourished by wet weather could make for active fires in the north later in the season and next year.
“There will be a late start to the fire season. We’ll probably skip most of the entire month of June,” Fred Svetz, fire weather program manager for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Reno, said of the situation in the Reno-Tahoe area.
June fire forecasts released by the Western Great Basin Coordinating Center and the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise cited a below-normal fire potential in both Northern Nevada and Northern California.