NORTHERN MICHIGAN — It was a dry September across much of Michigan, and those dry conditions are persisting into October.
According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ daily fire danger rating map, most of the Lower Peninsula is at a high or very high fire risk as of Monday, Oct. 7, while conditions vary across the Upper Peninsula.
The DNR’s fire report dashboard logged seven fires in the Lower Peninsula last week and another nine in the U.P.
Although some areas might have seen a little rain on Sunday evening and early Monday, it’s not enough to crack through the dry conditions.
“It has been pretty dry,” said Jeff Zoltowski,a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Gaylord. “The amount of rain we had (Monday night) in most places was less than a tenth of an inch. That isn’t going to make a tremendously big difference, unfortunately, as far as any sort of wildfire risk out in Northern Michigan presently.”
September, normally one of the wettest months of the year, was far below average in terms of rainfall.
In Petoskey, the total rainfall last month was measured at .75 inches.
“That compares to a normal of about 3.54 inches, so well, well, well below normal for the month of September,” Zoltowski said.
Rather than a drought, Zoltowski said officials would say that the Northern Lower Peninsula is experiencing “abnormally dry conditions.”
“There are some more significant drought conditions up in parts of the U.P., even extending not quite as far as Sault Ste. Marie but getting close to there,” he said.
DNR officials warned last week that burn permits for brush and yard debris will not be issued in the western U.P.
“The western portion of the Upper Peninsula is starting to see drought conditions, and fires that have occurred are taking a significant amount of time to extinguish,” said Paul Rogers, fire prevention specialist, in a press release.
The DNR also encouraged residents to check their burn permit website to see whether burning is allowed, and noted that bowhunters enjoying the hunting season should be cautious when lighting campfires.
The forecast for this week won’t provide any relief to the dry conditions, with no major precipitation expected.
“There’s some small chances for some light rain showers … those are off and on for the next few days,” Zoltowski said.
The best chance for rain could be over the weekend and into early next week, “And even then, those don’t look like anything major,” Zoltowski said. “At least not yet.”
— Contact Jillian Fellows at jfellows@petoskeynews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Fire risk remains high across Northern Michigan as dry conditions persist
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