Although it’s been a fairly minor wildfire season so far in Northern California, the outlook for the rest of the year is still rather ominous. Brent Wachter is a meteorologist with an agency based in Redding called Predictive Service. And he says they’re still predicting warmer and drier than normal weather for an area from Santa Cruz north that includes Nevada County…

But Wachter says the unusually stormy winter resulted in above-average fuels, including more dead and downed trees and branches, along with a higher grass crop…

The agency reports live fuel moisture values as being below critical levels at lower and middle elevations of the high country, but still higher than seasonal averages. And that means above normal significant fire potential in most areas below six-thousand feet in September and October. Wachter says an extended dry season will also require fire departments and agencies to maintain longer full-time staffing, with a greater cost.