Reminder that Asheville currently has at least one hotel full of urban out of towners.
Notable
>https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/09/24/answer-man-huge-forest-fires-possibility-here-too/3506281001/
==Answer Man: Huge forest fires a possibility here, too?
==
John Boyle
Asheville Citizen Times
With a lot of land in national and state forests, Western North Carolina is prone to wildfires, particularly in fall. This file photo shows a wildfire in the Brown Mountain area of Pisgah National Forest.
Today’s batch of burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal:
Question: The forest fires out west and the terrible air quality can be defined as nothing short than catastrophic. Could we experience anything like that in Western North Carolina? Or, based on weather patterns, are we protected from anything that serious?
My answer: If the sun happens to refract perfectly through the giant crystal in Mount Pisgah, as it's being warmed by the intermittent hipster vibe of pomposity emanating from the South Slope, it could indeed ignite the beer gas cloud hanging over Asheville, creating a conflagration the likes of which we haven't seen since Elvis Presley's love handles caught fire during the Civic Center concert back in '75 because his jumpsuit was too tight.
Real answer: "How quickly we forget," said David Easterling, director of the National Climate Assessment Technical Support Unit Center for Weather and Climate in Asheville. "In 2016, we had our own version of what they are currently experiencing out west with the Gatlinburg (Tennessee) fire."
That blaze claimed 14 lives and destroyed or damaged 1,684 structures.
We also had significant fires that year here in WNC, after the driest fall on record since 1869. Wildfires scorched nearly 80,000 acres, forcing residents out of their homes and businesses to close. Firefighters from all 50 states traveled to Western North Carolina for a 21-day shift to keep blazes from demolishing structures or injuring people.
The staircase to the viewing deck at Whitewater Falls in Nantahala National Forest was destroyed in the fall 2016 wildfires. Recreation fees were reinvested to repair the staircase.
While that year's conditions were tinder dry, and more than 30 wildfires occurred, generally we're considerably greener and a little safer than out West.
"We don’t quite have the extremely dry weather like the West Coast does every summer," Easterling said. "They have what is called a Mediterranean climate, which has dry summers, so they are more prone to extended wild fire seasons, but we can still get less severe versions like what happened in 2016."
Our driest time is now— fall. As Easterling notes, "If we have a drought coupled with the typically less humid atmosphere in fall, things can dry out pretty quickly leading to increased wild fire potential."
We're more than 13 inches above normal for the year in rainfall now, so drought is not an issue yet.
Two annual peak fire seasons
Cathy Dowd, public affairs officer for the U.S. Forest Service office in Asheville, said our mountains "can experience catastrophic wildfires and terrible air quality, and several years ago we did, but not to the scale and extent that we’re seeing out west.
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"Most residents of Western North Carolina probably don’t even realize that during our two annual peak fire seasons – mid to late spring prior to green-up, and autumn after the leaves begin to fall – we can have hundreds of wildfires because the fires are mostly small and are contained within a few days," Dowd said.
I found this nugget Dowd provide particularly interesting: "Since 2010, there have been 41,551 wildfires in North Carolina, burning more than 399,125 acres."
More: "Lake Lure, Chimney Rock take stock after historic fire"
Dowd also cited the fall of 2016 in WNC, when "we had a historic fall fire season here in the Southern Appalachians due to an extended drought, warm weather, and arson.
https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/09/24/answer-man-huge-forest-fires-possibility-here-too/3506281001/