
%0 Journal Article
%A Hess, Jason C. 
%A Scott, Carven A. 
%A Hufford, Gary L. 
%A Fleming, Michael D. 
%T El Ni&ntilde;o and its impact on fire weather conditions in Alaska
%J International Journal of Wildland Fire
%D 2001/05/03
%V 10
%N 1
%P 1-13
%K El Ni&ntilde;o; ENSO; Alaska; wildfires; weather patterns; burned area.
%R https://doi.org/10.1071/WF01007
%U https://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WF01007 
%X Examining the relationship of El Ni&ntilde;o to weather patterns in Alaska shows wide climate variances that depend on the teleconnection between the tropics and the northern latitudes. However, the weather patterns exhibited in Alaska during and just after moderate to strong El Ni&ntilde;o episodes are generally consistent: above normal temperature and precipitation along the Alaskan coast, and above normal temperature and below normal precipitation in the interior, especially through the winter. The warm, dry conditions in the Alaskan interior increase summer wildfire potential. Statistics on the area burned since 1940 show that 15 out of 17 of the biggest fire years occurred during a moderate to strong El Ni&ntilde;o episode. These 15 years account for nearly 63% of the total area burned over the last 58 years. Evidence points to increased dry thunderstorms and associated lightning activity during an El Ni&ntilde;o episode; the percentage of total area burned by lightning caused fires during five episodes increased from a normal of less than 40% to a high of about 96%. 
