ANCHORAGE - Rising temperatures in Alaska have sparked an unusual number of storms along the state's south-central coast this summer, officials say, and the multitude of lightning strikes and resulting fires have burned more than 1 million acres (405,000 hectares).
In recent weeks, there have been thunderstorms nearly every day along the normally temperate south-central coastline, Sharon Alden, manager of Alaska's fire weather program, said in an interview this week.
So far this summer, there have been 13 lightning-sparked fires on the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage, according to state reports. That compares with 12 lightning-sparked fires in the region between 1993 and 2004.
"I believe there is global warming, but what we're talking about isn't global warming. We're talking about regional warming," Alden said.
John See, a regional manager with the Alaska Division of Forestry, said there was increasing concern that the stormy weather and wildfires could indicate climate conditions have changed.
"It's certainly a change in the 25 years I've been in my position," See said. "If we see a continuation next year, certainly we're going to be concerned that it's a pattern."
In the coastal areas south of Anchorage, there is a concentration of dry, flammable timber left by a massive spruce-bark beetle infestation that "offers a real big resistance to suppressing fires," See said.
The region is also more heavily populated than hot and dry interior Alaska, where lightning-sparked fires are common, but often left to burn out on their own.
To cope with the extra workload, See said the state has transferred some firefighters from the northern region and called in reinforcements from outside the state.
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