January 09, 2012
By: Jana Bell
While winter conditions are still prevalent throughout the state, wildfire experts in Arizona say parts of the state already appear as if they will have a high risk of wildfires later this year.
After a record year for wildfires and related homeowners insurance claims in 2011, meteorologists said that 2012 appears to carry similar risks at this point in the year, particularly in the southeast part of the state, which took heavy losses this past year.
"The southeast quadrant of the state is almost a lock (for high fire activity)," Chuck Maxwell, meteorologist with the Southwest Coordination Center, told the Arizona Republic.
A report released by the SWCC predicted that the current drought in the region would continue and perhaps widen this summer as the La Niña weather cycle appears ready to shunt moisture away from the region. The last time the state saw conditions this dry, according to Maxwell, was in the early 1960s.
Overall, the center projected higher-than-normal fire risks in western Texas, southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
The Wallow wildfire this past year was the largest in the state's history. It destroyed more than 30 homes and burned more than 530,000 acres.
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