PHOENIX (AP) -- A rapid snowmelt and record heat last month in Arizona and New Mexico have set the stage for another active fire season in the Southwest, climatologists said Friday.
Temperatures reached 100 degrees in some places last month, and forecasters predict they will soon reach record levels again. Climatologists predicted this year's wildfire season will be similar to the last two, which resulted in large fires across the region.
Fire danger is expected to increase in early May, said Chuck Maxwell, a meteorologist with the Southwest Coordination Center in Albuquerque, N.M. He said recent rains could allow for controlled burns, which would clear away low-lying grasses, small trees and shrubs that contribute to catastrophic wildfires.
The rain has come as welcome relief to the parched Southwest, but forecasters said the resulting vegetation followed by predicted high temperatures may ultimately fuel wildfires.
``Anything that is growing out is bound to burn out,'' said Gregg Garfin, a climatologist at the University of Arizona.
About 50 weather experts and forest fire specialists gathered in Phoenix this week for their national assessment workshop.
Fire specialists said Friday they were most concerned about the potential for fire in the Four Corners region and Southern California.
Hundreds of thousands of acres in Southern California were ravaged by deadly wildfires last fall, and the last two fire seasons in Arizona produced fires that destroyed hundreds of homes.
Already this month, two wildfires have burned at least 10,000 acres in Arizona, and an 8,000-acre wildfire in Colorado on Thursday burned one home.
