06/12/2026
⚡Lightning is making its mark across Alaska today, with 496 recorded strikes as of 2:30 p.m. and more expected.
Check out this update from BLM Alaska on what that could mean for the .
🌩️Lightning has entered the conversation for the . ⚡
There were 1,481 ground strikes recorded in Alaska on Thursday — the highest count so far this year. Today's shaping up to be another active lightning day with 379 recorded by 1:30 p.m.
This is normal for this time of year as we transition from a wind driven surface fire season to a duff driven one, where deeper fuels become burnable. Even though many parts of the state have had lingering cold and wet weather, persistent winds have dried out surface fuels such as grasses, leaf litter, downed trees, and moss. Those surface fuels, in turn, pull moisture from the deeper ground layers.
The measure that tracks how much dry material has built up over time — essentially how dry the deeper layers of the forest floor have become — is at or slightly below normal levels in most of the state. But it’s already higher than usual for this point in the season in the Northwest Arctic, especially the Kobuk Valley, and in parts of Southwest Alaska.
What does that mean? When those deeper layers dry out, fires can burn hotter and longer because there’s more fuel available, making them harder to control and extinguish.
So far, wildfires are mostly burning surface fuels, but firefighters are starting to report that they’re burning a little deeper.
According to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center’s Predictive Services — a team of meteorologists, fire behavior analysts, and wildfire intelligence analysts — it would take just four days of hot, dry weather combined with several ignition sources occurring at once, from people or lightning, for fire season to ramp up quickly.
So far this year, 138 fires have burned just under 3,000 acres statewide. Of those, 128 are human caused, nine are natural and mostly lightning caused, and one is undetermined.
Please do your part to prevent wildfires. Never leave a fire unattended, make sure it’s cold to the touch before you leave, avoid burning on windy days and adhere to Alaska DNR - Division of Forestry & Fire Protection - DFFP burn permit suspensions and guidelines.
Stay Alaska!
🗺️of Alaska showing locations of recorded ground lightning strikes clustered mainly in central and southern regions. This AICC map was generated by this interactive AICC Wildland Fire Map Series: https://ow.ly/7Jic50Zbnl8