You might have noticed that the number of wildfires in the Southeast has been creeping up as drought conditions become worse and more widespread. We have seen this in previous droughts, so it is no surprise. This article by Seth Borenstein in The Independent talks about how warmer overnight temperatures and changes in humidity are allowing fires to last longer instead of dying out overnight as cooler temperature and higher humidity occur. This is especially true out west where humidity is much lower than ours is in the Southeast to begin with, but can also occur more frequently here in drought conditions. He also points out that as the growing season increases, the wildfire season is also increasing due to more days with high temperatures.
