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| Counties in Alabama have experienced wildfires due to the intensifying and continuous dry weather. Daily Mail |
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Hundreds of wildfires spread across Alabama as temperatures hit 100 Degrees
Daily Mail
September 27, 2019
Area: Mobile, Pensacola (Fort Walton Beach)
Several weeks of dry, hot weather has pushed the Deep South into an intensifying drought that is affecting more than 11 million people, jeopardizing crops across the region and burning thousands of acres of land.
In a Tuesday report from the U.S. Drought Monitor, heat has been increasing and conditions worsening across several states in the southeast, including Alabama and Georgia.
Both states have shifted from being partially ‘abnormally dry’ and experiencing ‘moderate drought’ to nearly the entire area listed as too dry.
According to the Drought Monitor report, dryness is escalating in the southeast region.
The report’s summary said: ‘Rapidly intensifying “flash drought” - attributed in part to extreme late-summer heat - continued to afflict many areas from the lower Midwest and Mid-Atlantic States to the Gulf Coast.’
States like Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia are battling the unprecedented heat.
Places in Alabama faced unusually extreme heat for this time of year: ‘Montgomery at 100 F (38 C); Troy at 98 (37 C), Tuscaloosa at 97 (36 C) and Birmingham and Anniston each at 96 (35.5 C).’
On September 16, the Alabama Forestry Commission issued Fire Danger Advisory for Alabama.
The statement read: ‘The Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC) has issued a Fire Danger Advisory for all 67 Alabama counties effective immediately until rainfall is received.’
‘Current drought conditions and persistent high temperatures have combined to create a high probability of fuel ignition and an atmosphere favorable for wildfires.’
The statement also revealed AFC wildland firefighters have battled 192 wildfires burning around 2,221 acres of land across the state in the last 30 days.
This included three fires that spanned over 100 acres in Alabama’s Bullock, Choctaw and Wilcox counties.
Mobile County saw a staggering 500 acres burned.
Green Valley Farm in Montevallo, known for maintaining tree nurseries, kept their sprinklers at high tilt as they battle the heat in one of the driest parts in the South.
Lakes have also begun to dry up due to the ongoing heat.
April Herbert of Alabama watched her one-year-old son Colin play near a partly dried up lake.
She said: ‘It's terrible. I'm afraid we're going to go straight from summer to winter without a fall.’
No mandatory water restriction has been set in place yet.
The United States Department of Agriculture said hay fields, pastures and soybean crops are facing the brunt of the drought.
The majority of crops are still in fairing okay despite the lack of rainfall.
Most places in Alabama and Georgia received below average rainfall in August and temperatures in Georgia were at most 3 degrees above average.
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