Wildfire Area Burned by U.S. State in 2023

Published

12 seconds ago

on

June 8, 2024 Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Charted: Wildfire Area Burned by U.S. State in 2023

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Wildfires have become a summer specter in North America, looming on the horizon as parts of the country warm and dry out.

We chart the total wildfire area burned in 2023 in the U.S., categorized by state, based on figures from the National Interagency Coordination Center.

Which U.S. States Saw the Most Area Burned by Wildfires?

Wildfires in California and Alaska together account for one-fourth of all land burned in the U.S. in 2023. Both states saw wildfire damage to more than 300,000 acres.

Zooming out, nearly half of the 2.7 million acres affected by wildfires in 2023 were concentrated in only five states.

RankStateAcres Burned (2023)% Of 2023
Acres Burned 1California332,72212% 2Alaska314,27612% 3New Mexico212,3788% 4Texas210,2648% 5Oregon202,0357% 6Arizona188,4837% 7Nebraska180,7337% 8Oklahoma162,4896% 9Washington151,3166% 10Montana123,1335% 11Florida99,6424% 12Idaho87,8013% 13North Carolina73,9533% 14Mississippi52,5082% 15West Virginia45,6792% 16Colorado41,9172% 17Louisiana22,1031% 18Alabama18,3351% 19Utah18,1091% 20New Jersey18,0331% 21Kansas17,9631% 22Tennessee15,3941% 23Virginia12,0850% 24Hawaii12,0590% 25Georgia10,3300% 26Pennsylvania9,6280% 27Missouri9,4990% 28Minnesota9,4160% 29Wyoming7,9340% 30Arkansas5,6590% 31Wisconsin4,8830% 32Maryland4,4860% 33Michigan4,2870% 34North Dakota4,1830% 35Ohio2,4690% 36Massachusetts1,4680% 37New York1,3830% 38Nevada1,3000% 39South Dakota9450% 40South Carolina5910% 41Rhode Island5820% 42Indiana5210% 43Maine3250% 44Connecticut2970% 45Illinois1110% 46Kentucky700% 47Vermont620% 48New Hampshire580% 49Iowa60% 50Delaware00% N/ATotal2,693,910N/A
Note: Figures rounded in the chart.

Due to hot, dry summers, Western states in particular see more wildfires. The New York Times notes that the American West has a Mediterranean climate where precipitation is concentrated around winter months. Thus the region’s hottest and driest months coincide.

As

Four Decades of U.S. Wildfires (1983–2024)

Published

12 seconds ago

on

June 3, 2024 Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Charted: Four Decades of U.S. Wildfires (1983–2024)

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

A complex interplay of factors are leading to North America’s long wildfire season: increasing summer temperatures, erratic precipitation patterns, changing land use, and ironically, fire suppression practices.

But what does the data say? We visualize the millions of acres burned by U.S. wildfires from 1983 to May 2024, per statistics from the National Interagency Fire Center.

2010 and 2015 Saw Record Land Burned by Wildfires

From glancing at the chart, it’s apparent that U.S. wildfires are burning significantly more acres on average in the 2010s than they did in the 1980s. Interestingly, the World Economic Forum points out that while the number of fires itself has fallen since 2005, the land burned has increased, indicating wildfire intensity has grown.

YearMillion Acres Burned 19831.3 19841.1 19852.9 19862.7 19872.4 19885.0 19891.8 19904.6 19913.0 19922.1 19931.8 19944.1 19951.8 19966.1 19972.9 19981.3 19995.7 20007.4 20013.6 20027.2 20034.0 2004*8.1 20058.7 20069.9 20079.3 20085.3 20095.9 20103.4 20118.7 20129.3 20134.3 20143.6 201510.1 20165.5 201710.0 20188.8 20194.7 202010.1 20217.1 20227.6 20232.7 2024**1.9
*Doesn’t include North Carolina data. **As of May 27, 2024.

In 2015, wildfires burned more than 10 million acres in the country, a first since these records began. Five years later saw a repeat, thanks to four Californian fires that together burned more than 2.3 million acres in the state.

For comparison, U.S. wildfires burned approximately 2.7 million acres in total in 2023, the lowest amount recorded since 1998. An unusually wet Californian summer helped