Early Wildfires in New Mexico

Wildfire season in New Mexico and Arizona historically has started around late May and early June. Wildfires in these states are driven by drier climatic conditions that lower vegetation moisture levels.

An Earlier Start to the Fire Season in New Mexico

This year, wildfire season in New Mexico started earlier with several large fires starting in mid to late April that continue to burn into early May.

Warmer climatic conditions along with high winds, low humidity, and abnormally dry tinder—in the form of grass, brush, and timber—have sparked the fires, which are being intensified by the available fuel. As of May 3, 2022, 100% of New Mexico is experiencing abnormally low or drought conditions with 98.94% of the state at some level of drought per the U.S. Drought Monitor.

With rising temperatures in New Mexico linked to climate change, snow melts faster, more water evaporates into the sky, and grasses and other fuels dry out earlier.

Large Wildfires in 2022 in New Mexico

The Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak are two wildfires located east of Santa Fe that merged on April 22-23, 2022 to become one of the largest wildfires on record for New Mexico. The Calf Canyon fits started April 19 and the Hermits Peak fire started April 6. As of May 5, 2022, the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak complex fire had burned 165,276 Acres and was only 20% contained.

The Hermits Peak fire started as a prescribed fire in the Santa Fe National Forest but grew out of control after gusty winds.

The Cerro Pelado fire located west of Santa Fe ignited on April 22 and has burned 29,368 acres of timber and brush as of May 5, 2022 in the Santa Fe National Forest.

The Cooks Peak fire started April 17 and has burned 59,359 acres to date.  

2022 Year to Date Fires and Acreage for New Mexico

2022 Wildfires in New Mexico Have Already Burned Double the Acreage of 2021

So far this year, New Mexico has experienced 214 fires that have burned a total of 243,400 acres. Of those fires, about half (103) — and most of the acreage (227,290) — are of undetermined origin.

This is already approaching double that of all wildfires that burned in 2021 in New Mexico. Last year, there were 823 total fires that burned 131,484 acres in the state.

Table and Map: 2021 Wildfires in New Mexico

Map: Largest 2021 Wildfires in New Mexico

Table: Largest Wildfires in New Mexico in 2021

Largest Wildfires in New Mexico 1990 – 2019

The 25 largest wildfires to date that have happened in New Mexico are:

New Mexico Wildfires: Number and Acres 1990-2015

References

April 27, 2022 – Wildfires in New Mexico. (2022, April 27). MODIS Web. https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-04-27

Garfin, G., G. Franco, H. Blanco, A. Comrie, P. Gonzalez, T. Piechota, R. Smyth, and R. Waskom. (2014). Ch. 20: Southwest. Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment, J. M. Melillo, Terese (T.C.) Richmond, and G. W. Yohe, Eds., U.S. Global Change Research Program, 462-486. doi:10.7930/J08G8HMN. https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/regions/southwest

Historical fire data. (2022). Southwest Coordination Center: National Geographic Area Coordination Center Website Portal. https://gacc.nifc.gov/swcc/predictive/intelligence/intelligence.htm 

Pratt, S. E. (2022, May 3). Wildfires continue to burn across New Mexico. NASA Earth Observatory. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/149784/wildfires-continue-to-burn-across-new-mexico

Related

• 2021 Wildfires in the U.S. and Canada
• Climate Change is Increasing Post-Wildfire Landslides in Southern California
• Three of Colorado’s Wildfires are the Largest in Recorded History for the State