A Bad Omen for the Future?

A 3 acre wildfire above Farmington. Source: Fox13.

Yesterday I did something extremely unusual for April in Utah.

I ran my sprinklers.

My yard has a south aspect and the grass was already brown and crunchy.  Some of the perennials also looked to be suffering.  

It was only Monday of last week that I mentioned that "normal" spring would continue.  At the time, I commented that the airport had received only 0.26 inches of rain, which was below average, but the month thus far had seen typical temperatures.  I also anticipated we would get some rain that coming Thursday, which turned out to be a bust.  

So now we sit here with only 0.26" in what, for the Salt Lake Valley, is typically one of the wettest months of the year.  Additionally, we will see well-above-average temperatures.  

And if you are wondering, 0.26" would equate to the driest April on record in Salt Lake City.  The current record holder is 0.45" in 1981 and 1934.  

The photo above illustrates a small wildfire that started yesterday afternoon, apparently by a downed power line above Farmington.  

Is it a bad omen for the future?  

Well, I'm not a big fan of ranking or predicting fire seasons.  There's no such thing as a good fire season.  Instead, some fire season are worse than others.  Being prepared for fire simply makes sense in our part of the world, so I look at the fire above not as a bad omen, but as a reminder that if you live the wildland-urban interface, be prepared. 

Responding to threats like wildfire will likely be more challenging this summer than others due to the coronavirus.  Let us hope that Mother Nature has no tricks up her sleeve this fire season.