Washington State: 'Burning Longer, Moving Faster' — How the Northwest Is Preparing for a Dangerous Year

Washington state is staring down what fire managers are calling a potentially severe 2026 wildfire season, shaped by a historic snow drought, a statewide drought declaration, and forecasts that suggest the window of dangerous fire weather could arrive weeks earlier than normal this year.

Drought Declared in April

On April 8, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson issued a statewide drought declaration after monitoring data confirmed that snowpack had melted out approximately a month ahead of schedule. According to the Drought Monitor, snow drought is currently widespread across Washington due to unseasonably warm temperatures that produced rain rather than snow throughout the winter. Snowpack remains far below normal statewide, and the Climate Prediction Center forecasts that precipitation will remain below normal through at least June.

The declaration allows the state to activate emergency drought protocols and coordinate water resource management ahead of what could be a dry summer affecting agriculture, municipal water supplies, and wildfire risk simultaneously.

NIFC Flags the Northwest

The National Interagency Fire Center's May 1 seasonal outlook specifically called out Washington and Oregon for elevated concern, noting that drought conditions have persisted in Western Washington throughout most of the year — unusual for a region historically defined by wet winters. Above-normal temperatures in April across the state and dry precipitation patterns accelerated spring fuel drying.

"Wildfires are burning longer, moving faster, and behaving less predictably than they did even a decade ago," the U.S. Forest Service said in a recent statement. The agency projects that fire season in the Pacific Northwest could begin meaningfully earlier than the traditional July–September window.

Eastern Washington: High Grassland Risk

Eastern Washington's grasslands and shrub-steppe are historically the most fire-prone part of the state, and 2026 presents a high-risk combination of cured grass fuels, below-normal soil moisture, and forecasted periods of hot, dry, and windy weather beginning in June. The Yakima Valley, Okanogan Highlands, and Palouse region are among the areas fire managers are watching most closely.

Riva Duncan, president of the Grassroots Wildland Firefighters and a retired USFS employee, noted that the risk extends beyond the usual Eastern Washington hotspots: "In Western Washington, you're seeing wildfires now where there weren't any before. It wasn't something that people worried about, but everything is connected."

Agency Preparedness

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service are pre-positioning resources ahead of peak season, including additional engines, aircraft contracts, and handcrew agreements. The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center in Portland is tracking resource availability across the nine-state region and will coordinate resource sharing as fire activity increases.

Local counties across Eastern Washington have been updating Community Wildfire Protection Plans and working with the state to conduct pre-season outreach to rural residents in wildland-urban interface communities.

What You Can Do

Washington emergency managers are urging all residents in fire-prone areas to take action now, before the season peaks: