Median: 120,851 acres
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Fuel is anything that will burn, including grass, shrubs, trees, material lying on the ground, and sometimes structures.
Break the triangle: Building firelines removes fuel from the path of moving fire. This is done by fire crews, equipment, and aircraft.
Shifting winds supply fresh Oxygen and increases the fire's intensity.
Break the triangle: Smothering a fire with dirt, water, or foam limits oxygen.
TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY
Higher temperature air absorbs moisture from fuels which make them more conducive to catch fire. Fuels in locations with high humidity and rainfall tend to be damp and moist.
Heat is first supplied by a lightning bolt, match, or ongoing fire.
Break the triangle: Cooler weather and higher humidities help remove heat. In firefighting, helicopters and air tankers drop water and fire retardant; engines carry limited water.
FINE FUELS
A campfire ember, discarded cigarette, or lightning strike starts a fire in grass and needles. These "flashy fuels" burn quickly. Fine fuels like grass react quickly to temperature and humidity changes. They can dry within minutes.
UNDERSTORY
The vegetation within five feet of the forest floor and downed logs do not react as quickly as fine fuels. As the fine fuels burn, they preheat the shrubs and small trees. Preheating causes the understory to become hot and dry enough to bum.
CROWN FIRE
When the fuels in the understory are dense enough to form a "ladder" they can carry fire into the trees. Preheating from the surface fire, combined with wind allows the fire to move into the forest canopy.
SPOTTING
Winds and convection cause the lofting of embers and burning material ahead of the main fire. These "firebrands" land on vegetation and start new fires.
FIRELINE
Vegetation, branches, and needles are cleared to mineral soil to make a line wide enough to stop the fire's spread. The width varies based on how hot the fire is and how far it is spotting.
2019
High: 5,415,414 acres
Low: 1,111 acres
SOURCE: NOAA, National Centers for Envirnmental Information
Tropical cyclones costing over $1 billion
There were 60 billion-dollar tropical cyclones from 1980 to 2022, totaling
$1.33 trillion in damages and causing 6,890 deaths.
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Hurricane!
See how and where these deadly storms strike, and explore how their severity has increased over time.
August, 2017: Rescue boats float on a flooded street as people are evacuated from rising floodwaters brought on by Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Lookup billion-dollar tropical cyclones
Number of tropical cyclones in the U.S., each costing over $1 billion.
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Total cost of tropical cyclones (over $1 billion) in the U.S. each year, CPI-adjusted, in billions.
Number of deaths in the U.S. each year caused by billion-dollar tropical cyclones.
SOURCE: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2022).
SOURCE: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2022).
NOAA photo
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