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Where there’s fire, there’s smoke — and secrets for science to uncover

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A huge column of smoke rises from a 2017 “prescribed burn” in the Fishlake National Forest in Utah. Forest managers will intentionally and carefully set fires in some sections of forests to restore them to natural conditions.[Photo slightly cropped for size.]

Study examines centuries of data to understand links between climate and wildfires

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Wildfire in California.

A hot, dry summer primed California for wildfire

November 16, 2018

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Smoke from two large fires, the Camp Fire in northern California and the Woolsey Fire in southern California.

To help forecast air quality and issue warnings, NOAA aims to answer what fires emit

September 11, 2018

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Pioneer Fire in Boise National Forest, Idaho, 2016.

Ask the scientist: How can the weather spark and spread wildfires?

September 4, 2018

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As of August 28, 2018, there were 89 U.S. wildfires currently burning on approximately 2 million acres of private, state, tribal, and federal land. Nearly 20,000 interagency fire personnel, including about 450 crews, 1,000-plus engines, 160 helicopters and 24 airtankers are deployed to wildfires.

New smoke data from NOAA satellites keeps traveling public out of harm's way

August 22, 2018

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Wildfire in California.

Wildfire season in Southern Plains off to a strong start after a dry winter

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geostationary satellite (GOES)

First responders like this firefighter in Oklahoma are getting information about wildfires sooner from NOAA satellite notifications shared by NOAA National Weather Service forecasters.

Wildfires continue to ravage California; NOAA experts are on the scene

October 12, 2017

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A massive wildfire badly burned this property in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa, Calif. Photo captured on October 9, 2017.

Coordination prevented worst of wildfire damage in Great Plains

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Scurry County, Texas, wildfires on April 27, 2011.

Summer roars in with a vengeance over U.S. Southwest

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Be sure to check the forecast for any excessive heat advisories in your area before venturing out.

Drought in America: Slow moving, far reaching

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Lake Oroville, the second-largest state reservoir in northern California, experienced low water levels during the recent exceptional California drought.

Risk of very large fires could increase sixfold by mid-century in the US

December 17, 2015

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The map shows the projected increase in the number of “very large fire weeks”—weeks in which conditions are favorable to the occurrence of very large fires—by mid-century (2041-2070) compared to the recent past (1971-2000). The darkest shades of red indicate that up to a six-fold increase is predicted across parts of the West.