The nation's fire weather experts say New Mexico is now firmly in a pattern of high wildfire danger that is not likely to change much over the next several weeks. Fire season is off to a roaring start in early April, with dry, hot and windy conditions over much of the state that may well be setting the stage for a fire season that could last well into May and maybe into June. "We're going to get periods of significant wind like we saw yesterday, on Sunday with the blowing dust, the big wildfire down in Ruidoso," said National Weather Service Meteorologist Brent Wachter. "Out ahead of those patterns we're going to have pretty hot, dry, unstable conditions and that's going to drive fires like we had in Bernardo on Saturday. The National Weather Service fire danger map for April shows most of New Mexico in the red zone for above normal fire risk, along with much of Arizona, a good chunk of Texas, most of Florida and parts of northern Michigan as well. The map for May-July shows most of New Mexico falling into the average range for fire risk, with a new stretch of above-normal fire risk emerging across central Arizona and into northwestern New Mexico.
