Since April, New Mexico has been experiencing a wildfire season with nearly half the state listed in extreme drought intensity or higher, according to a June 3 U.S. Drought Monitor map. Drought symptoms have intensified across southwest New Mexico with fire activity increasing in late May, according to a national wildfire report released by the National Interagency Fire Center on June 1.
Due to very dry fuel conditions in the shrubs and trees as well as above-average grass loading, the potential for significant fires is expected to be above normal across southwest and south central New Mexico in June, according to the report. In recent years, April and May have been active wildfire months in New Mexico. Two of the stateโs largest wildfires in history โ the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire and the Black Fire โ erupted within this period in 2022, nearly a month apart.
The Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire, resulted from the merging of two separate controlled burns. It blazed across northern New Mexico in April, scorching 341,735 acres in the San Miguel, Mora and Taos counties, the largest wildfire in New Mexicoโs history, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association. May and June are the peak of wildfire season in New Mexico, sometimes extending into July depending on when monsoon season begins, according to George Ducker, Communications and Public Information Specialist for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Forestry Division.
Since 2022โs Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire, the Forestry Division has reorganized to treat April through July as a statewide fire season, Ducker said. The EMNRD works with the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration to formulate what fire seasons will look like and do ground analysis of soil moisture levels and analyze precipitation records from the winter seasons, Ducker said.
