A swath of the Southern Appalachians faced elevated fire weather conditions on Thursday, as a combination of weather factors and debris left behind by a catastrophic storm heightened the risk of rapidly spreading wildfires.
The Storm Prediction Center has outlined portions of the Appalachian and Piedmont regions of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina for a second straight day of elevated fire weather conditions.
Dry and windy weather will increase the fire danger through the early evening. Thousands of downed trees from last fall's Hurricane Helene could further fuel and intensify any wildfires that are sparked.
"Access is a major issue," South Carolina state forester Scott Phillips told Fox Weather. "With the downed fuels we have from Hurricane Helene, it will be a continuing issue for the next several years likely. It's going to change the way we have to attack fires in the mountains of South Carolina and in the Hurricane Helene-impacted areas."
The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement for the states impacted by the heightened fire danger.
"Dry and windy conditions will return this afternoon," the NWS cautioned. "Minimum relative humidity values will range from 20 to 30 percent with wind gusts from 15-25 mph. This, combined with dry fuels, will result in another afternoon of increased fire danger across western North Carolina, the South Carolina Upstate, and northeast Georgia."
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The U.S. Forest Service issued a report in September that warned that the "tens of thousands of acres of trees" that were brought down by Hurricane Helene in at least nine national forests in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic could raise the risk of wildfires.
"In addition to blocking roads and bridges, these dead and damaged trees posed a longer-term problem: increased wildfire risk," the USFS noted in its report. "All of that extra dead and drying wood could become fuel to ignite or sustain a wildfire, allowing the flames to build extra intensity and cause more damage than they otherwise might. Not only that, but the logs also provide a breeding ground for insects and diseases that could kill otherwise healthy trees, adding even more fire risk."
Further complicating wildfire risk is the ongoing drought affecting more than half of the Southeast, which has worsened over the past week. Just over 58% of the region is in at least a moderate drought, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Report. That is an increase of nearly 10% in the region compared to a week ago.
The percentage of Georgia now in drought has climbed to just over 85%, an increase of nearly 20% from last week. A little more than 44% of South Carolina is enduring a drought, up from just over 25% a week ago, while drought areas in North Carolina have risen by about 12% since last week, with more than 53% of the state in at least a moderate drought.
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Majorly 😥 This dangerous scenario for the Southeast is another example of how our overheating planet can supercharge extreme weather events.
The findings of a World Weather Attribution study showed that "climate change is enhancing conditions conducive to the most powerful hurricanes like Helene, with more intense rainfall totals and wind speeds."
The United States Geological Survey has also concluded that "climate change exacerbates droughts by making them more frequent, longer, and more severe."
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