LITTLE ROCK -- The Arkansas Forestry Commission said Monday that the state's late-summer wildfire season is "on schedule" this year, with temperatures climbing and forecasters predicting little rain over the next few weeks.
As of Monday afternoon, five counties had issued burn bans amid the increasing threat. Officials in Garland, Chicot, Faulkner, Howard and Jefferson counties told residents to avoid burning items outside.
Heavy rains in late spring and early summer helped suppress the wildfire threat, but the National Weather Service says temperatures are expected to be higher than normal over the next two weeks, while rainfall totals should be lower.
"We're a little bit better than we could be. Humidity has been our saving grace," said Adriane Barnes, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Forestry Commission.
Winds shifted to the north and northeast for a time last week, cutting off moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, and with the drop in humidity the state saw a handful of wildfires pop up during the weekend. All remained small -- the area burned totaled 28 acres, or less than one-twentieth of a square mile -- but one "outbuilding" was lost.
Krista Guthrie, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said the fires weren't bad enough for state emergency officials to be called in.
Arkansas has peak fire seasons in late winter and late summer. The state's last major wildfire occurred in 2012.
"We are absolutely on schedule for wildfire season," Barnes said. She said many woodlands have an abundance of potential fuel since the state has gone three years without a major fire.
Temperatures have hit 100 degrees or higher in much of the state and the Forestry Commission says a moderate risk of wildfires is present in southwestern Arkansas, roughly inside a triangle from Waldron to Heber Springs to El Dorado.
Barnes said humidity readings are often the key to wildfire development. With humidity above 40 percent, fires won't burn ferociously; below 35 percent is "when we need to worry."
"We are on the cusp but in no way are we in panic mode," she said.
Chris Buonanno, the science and operations officer for the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, said the state in recent week had been "extremely humid, almost abnormally so" following the earlier rains.
Forecasts for the next few weeks suggest temperatures will be higher and precipitation will be lower than normal, Buonanno said.
"It has been a few weeks since we've had widespread significant rainfall," he said.
Humidity readings at midday Monday ranged from below 30 percent in southwestern Arkansas to more than 40 percent in the north. Temperatures were in the 90s.
August typically is the state's hottest month. Four years ago Monday, the temperature hit 114 at Little Rock, the city's all-time record.
State Desk on 08/04/2015