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May 4, 2008 - 8:38PM
Dry lightning could spark Ariz. wildfire season
Mike Branom, Tribune
The 2008 desert wildfire season may soon receive an unwanted spark.
There's a slight chance of thunderstorms packing wind and lightning but little to no rain coming to south-central Arizona on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
Ariz.'s profusion of desert plants to dry out, stoke fire danger
If the threat of so-called "dry lightning" materializes, the biggest worries are cloud-to-ground bolts touching off fires and then the downburst winds spreading these blazes.
A low-pressure system currently off the Baja California coast is expected to swing eastward and slide across southwestern Arizona on Tuesday. This system will bring cooler and breezy weather to the region, plus just enough moisture to possibly touch off thunderstorms, mostly during Tuesday evening into the next morning.
Today's forecast calls for growing cloud cover, with highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s. But Tuesday's maximum temperatures will be about 10 degrees lower.
During this time of year, daily highs are typically in the low 90s.
The region is primed for wildfires, as the winter's rains supported vigorous growth of native wildflowers and exotic weedy species in Arizona's central deserts. That vegetation has since dried out; not since late February has precipitation fallen near the Valley.
Most of the state's fires this year have erupted in the southeast and far south.
Through Saturday, the total amount of Arizona acreage burned in wildfires is 19,546.
The federal Southwest Coordination Center said all but one of the 269 fires reported were caused by humans.
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