High winds and low humidy are allies of wildfires, and they have been brutally effective for the last couple of days. They have not only helped to spread the fire, but the winds were bad enough that they grounded the aircraft.

The latest InciWeb Wallow Fire page:

• Date Started: 5/29/2011
• Number of Personnel: Approximately 3,012 including 24 hotshot crews and 79 handcrews
• Location: south and west of Alpine, Arizona
• Cause: Human – under investigation
• Equipment: 18 dozers, 197 engines, 61 watertenders
• Aircraft: 16 helicopters
• Size: 386,690 acres [604miles² 1565 km²]
• Percent Contained: 0%
• Injuries to Date: 3 minor injuries
• Structures: 4,018 threatened; 1 damaged; 16 lost
• Area Command Team 3 (Jim Loach, Area Commander) is now managing the Wallow Fire

The Structures numbers were reported before the information came in on Property Damage in Greer: “The property damage has been assessed in the community of Greer. In total, 22 homes lost, 5 damaged, 24 out-buildings, and 1 vehicle.” [It isn’t clear whether the out-buildings and vehicle were simply damaged or lost, but it is likely they were lost.]

The winds are decreasing, but they really need rain to help them with this fire, and that isn’t likely for a while.

[For the latest information click on the fire symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Fires” for all of the posts related to wildfires on this site.]

Position: 14.6N 105.8W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [285°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 140 mph [220 kph].
Wind Gusts: 165 mph [270 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 90 miles [150 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 30 miles [ 45 km].
Minimum central pressure: 946 mb ↓.

Currently about 320 miles [515 km] South-Southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico.

Adrian is now a Category 4 storm, continuing its rapid intensification. It is expected to lose energy beginning tomorrow. It is certainly to be hoped that no one runs into this storm on the Pacific.

The turn to the North keeps getting pushed further West, so the value of Adrian to pull rain into the Southwestern states is much reduced. It will begin to pass over cooler water as it heads West and lose strength.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]