Currently in Boston — May 18th, 2022
The weather, currently.
It's another beautiful day on tap for Wednesday with temperatures in the 70s. It will still be a little bit breezy at times. A frontal system brings a few showers on Thursday. I'm not expecting more than a tenth of an inch of precipitation but it will be cooler with readings in the 60s. Heat starts to build on Friday with highs approaching 80 in the afternoon and a little more humidity and it turns downright hot for Saturday and Sunday with temperatures both days into the lower 90s inland cooler for the cape in the islands. More seasonable weather returns for much of next week but we do need a good rain storm.
— Dave Epstein
What you need to know, currently.
Release of a nation-wide wildfire risk map is a key milestone on the road to resilience. If you don’t know your risk, it’s hard to prepare. The federal gov’t doesn’t produce a detailed national risk map. First Street Foundation is trying to fill that gap. https://t.co/AqhVJFR6Wz
— Alice Hill (@Alice_C_Hill) May 16, 2022
As climate change and global warming grows, homes in the East Coast are facing an increasing risk of wildfires during the next 30 years.
Anyone renting or buying a house could, historically, look up its flood risk. However, for wildfire risks, homeowners were on their own. But now, thanks to a report and accompanying wildfire risk model produced by nonprofit First Street Foundation – which is the nation’s first and only property specific wildfire risk model – there is now information about wildfire risk across the lower 48 states.
The map also reveals wildfire intensity and how the risk will change as the environment continues to warm. The “Fire Factor” risk score will be included in residential real estate listing sites, like realtor.com, making the information more accessible to homeowners across the nation.
To create the report and map tools, the nonprofit ran computer models and simulated how wildfire spreads across different landscapes under different conditions.
The report finds about 80 million properties are at some level of wildfire risk during the next 30 years. 20.2 million properties face a “moderate” risk, or up to a 6 percent risk of a wildfire. 6 million properties face a “major” risk, or 6-14 percent risk of a wildfire, while about 1.5 million properties face “extreme risk,” or more than 26 percent risk. A total of 49.4 million properties face a “minor” risk, or a less than 1 percent chance of experiencing a wildfire over the next three decades.
According to the report, states like California, Texas, Florida, Arizona and Oklahoma are among the states most at risk of a wildfire. But, the Midwest and East Coast are also facing an increasing risk, as climate change spreads.
But, according to experts, there are steps that homeowners can take to make their homes safer against fire risks, like using fire-resistant building materials, removing vegetation or debris from the roof, windows and deck and making sure that all combustible materials are 30 feet away from the house, to name a few.
And now, you can know your wildfire risk too.
— Aarohi Sheth