In case you needed another reason to be happy that 2020 is behind us.

"It appears that a modern U.S. record has been set for wildfire acreage during the extraordinarily active western wildfire season of 2020," USDA meteorologist, Brad Rippey recently said. He noted this really should not come as a surprise, after what we saw here in the west. When breaking down the numbers, 10.27 million acres of vegetation burned across the 50 United States in 2020. And, he noted, only 200,000 acres burned in Alaska. 

"So this is also the first time that we've seen more than 10 million acres burn in the lower 48 states," Rippey continued.

And 2020 was only the third year in modern U.S. history that wildfire scorched more than 10 million acres. The other years were 2015 and 2017.  

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