Trends in prescribed fire weather windows from 2000 to 2022 in California

This study analyzed a 2-km hourly gridded weather dataset over a 23-year period to investigate the influence of climatological trends on prescribed fire weather windows. The authors explored how prescribed fire windows changed over this period for two California counties: Sonoma County near the coast and Plumas County in the Sierra Nevada, which contrast in land ownership types, vegetation, and climate. These counties represent diverse prescribed fire considerations in regions where recent catastrophic wildfire has drawn interest from land managers. Using burn prescriptions written by experienced local fire practitioners, the authors identified the degree of weather-driven change in prescribed fire opportunities for these two distinct areas within California.

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Fossum, CA, BM Collins, CW Stephens, JM Lydersen, J Restaino, T Katuna, SL Stephens. 2024. “Trends in prescribed fire weather windows from 2000 to 2022 in California” Forest Ecology and Management. 562: 121966. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2024.121966.