Grass Fire Sparks In Northern Wyoming As Snow Buries South

Sounds a little hard to believe for those buried in record breaking Wyoming snow, and still trying to dig out, but there are grass fires in Northern Wyoming.

I bet those folks in Campbell County would love to be shoveling snow rather than praying for it.

It reminds me of that odd look we see every spring where there is snow in the shadow of the house but out in the sun it's grass. The line between the two is perfectly straight.

According to County 17, Firefighters have just extinguished a four-acre grass fire just 100 yards from homes on Highway 14-16in Campbell County. That happened on Monday, while Wyomingites to the south were shoveling mounds of heavy, wet snow.

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Campbell County, along with much of eastern Wyoming, has experienced a mild winter. What little snow or rain they did get evaporated quickly.

This can be a bit worrisome for this coming summer. The region is in a dry spell. There is much left over from last summer that is dead and dry and ready to burn easily.

The snow that much of Wyoming got this past weekend was record breaking and, according to Don Day of Day Weather, it was helpful. But we will need a lot more to get back to where we want to be.

Last summer was a summer of fires across much of Wyoming. It is possible that could happen again this coming summer.

Some years are wet, some are dry. It is a back and forth cycle that, for Wyoming, is mostly due to El Niño and La Niña. According to NOA "El Niño and La Niña episodes typically last nine to 12 months, but some prolonged events may last for years. While their frequency can be quite irregular, El Niño and La Niña events occur on average every two to seven years. Typically, El Niño occurs more frequently than La Niña."