When is wildfire season in Arizona? It's not so easy to define anymore. Here's why

Yahoo

20-05-2025

Arizona entered 2025 with wildfires already blazing.
The Horton Fire began in mid-December and was extinguished roughly a month later. Another fire was sparked a few weeks later, and Arizona's year-long fire season continued.
Wildfires in Arizona were once expected from late April into the monsoon season. Now fires can start from late February or early March into September.
'Every year, depending on the weather or the conditions, we can see an extension of our fire season,' said Tiffany Davila, public affairs officer for Arizona's Department of Forestry and Fire Management.
Here's what to know about Arizona's wildfire season and why these massive blazes are no longer just a seasonal issue.
Wildfires in Arizona were once expected from late April into the monsoon season. Now fires can start from late February or early March into September, experts told The Arizona Republic.
The U.S. Forest Service and many other agencies are shifting to the concept of 'fire years.' Rather, there is fire activity year-round but it increases during the end of April or beginning of May, according to Arizona's Department of Forestry and Fire Management.
Larger incidents, more erratic and aggressive fires, tend to peak when there's a combination of hot air and windy conditions, and ease when Arizona is well into the monsoon.
Fires start earlier in southern Arizona and later in the north; each ecosystem has its own unique relation to fires.
The expansion of Arizona's traditional fire season is happening for a lot of reasons.
Three main factors affect fire seasonality:
Decades of fire suppression — not letting forests burn naturally — cause timber, grass and brush to accumulate and cause more intense fires.
Where most fires were once started by lightning, they are now largely started by people. More humans in wild places mean both more chances of fire and higher stakes while fighting them.
Multiyear droughts and more extreme weather events due to climate change are driving longer, more damaging fires.
Arizona Republic reporters Hayleigh Evans and Shelby Slade contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: When is wildfire season in Arizona? Why it's not so easy to define