Sohn: Might wildfire smoke be harbinger of days to come?

Grace Mynatt stands atop Signal Mountain and looks off toward Lookout Mountain as smoke from wildfires collected in Chattanooga Valley last week. Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press Grace Mynatt stands atop Signal Mountain and looks off toward Lookout Mountain as smoke from wildfires collected in Chattanooga Valley last week. Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press

By Pam Sohn November 14, 2016 7 min read

NEWS UPDATE: Firefighters use hand tools to fight Chattanooga-area wildfires with no rain in sight

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Wildfires continue with no rain imminent

Two major fires burn at the Flipper Bend forest fire atop Walden Ridge in this view to the southwest from Montlake. The lights on the horizon, at left, is the Northgate Mall portion of Hixson. Crews from Tennessee State Parks, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Forestry Division and U.S. Forestry Service personnel from the Bureau of Land Management were on scene as two Air National Guard BlackHawk helicopters sporadically dumped water on the expanding blaze.

A southbound pickup is dwarfed by the white smoke from the Flipper Bend fire late Tuesday in view of U.S. Highway 27, in Soddy-Daisy.

Volunteer firefighter's with the Sequoyah Volunteer Fire Department depart to work the Mowbray Mountain fire on Thursday in Soddy-Daisy.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 11/9/16. A aircraft from the US Forestry Service drops fire retardant on a wildfire burning along the Flipper Bend area of Signal Mountain on November 9, 2016. According to a Hamilton County Government release this morning over 780 acres have burned on Flipper Bend and another 230 plus acres on nearby Mowbray Mountain.

Wildfires ravage Southeast

Two juveniles arrested, charged in deadly Gatlinburg wildfires
Tennessee takes four area counties off burn ban list to aid tornado cleanup
Rain helps with area wildfires, but Tennessee burn ban remains [videos, photos]
Gatlinburg wildfires death toll climbs to 14; officials estimate 1,684 structures damaged or destroyed
Nonprofits and state agencies step up relief efforts amid tornado, wildfire damage
Man charged for allegedly intentionally setting a Sequatchie County wildfire
Rain brings relief for wildfires
Southern storms should ease drought, but fire threat remains
At long last, substantial rain is expected throughout Chattanooga area
Gov. Bill Haslam applauds wildfire fighters’ efforts
Firefighters make progress in Southeast wildfires, but threat remains
Crews fighting large fire in northeast Alabama
Gov. Haslam vows to pursue wildfire arsonists ‘with everything we have’
Hamilton County wildfires to cost more than $600,000
Forestry crews prepared to miss Thanksgiving with families as they battle wildfires
Wildfires rage on; new one pops up in North Georgia
Gasp! Wildfires cause hacking and wheezing across the South
Air quality improves, rain possible this weekend
Relentless smoke spreads fear at edge of southern wildfires
Catoosa County issues burn ban
Many outdoor activities banned as fires burn across south
Two men charged with arson as crews make progress quelling 3 area blazes
Chattanooga is on target to break record for driest year in city’s history
Alabama man confesses to starting Sequatchie County fire
Area wildfires containment increases, Flipper Bend fire 95 percent contained
Catholic Mass offered for wildfire relief
Fire crews hope to reach 100 percent containment on 3 area wildfires
Wildfire smoke engulfs Chattanooga, endangering health of residents
No rain in forecast as Chattanooga area wildfires continue to burn
Tennessee Gov. Haslam issues 51-county burning ban
Firefighters use hand tools to fight Chattanooga-area wildfires with no rain in sight
Hundreds hospitalized with breathing problems amid Chattanooga-area wildfire outbreak
Sohn: Might wildfire smoke be harbinger of days to come?
New fires sprout in Chattanooga area as firefighters work to contain thousands of acres burning across region
Arson suspected in most Chattanooga area wildfires
UPDATE: Man arrested after admitting he set three wildfires that consumed 300 acres
The latest update on the unprecedented fire season in the tri-state area
Wildfires burning total of 9,680 acres across eastern half of Tennessee; FEMA steps in to offer aid [videos, photo galleries]
Southern fires rage with 41.6 million now living in drought
Wildfires continue across region with no rain imminent; some residents evacuated
Chattanooga area wildfire smoke triggers ‘Code Red’ air quality alert [videos]

It is little wonder that the mountain slopes and grasslands around Chattanooga are burning.

Since Jan. 1, Chattanooga has had 25.05 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

Normally by this date, we’ve usually had about 44 inches and are well on our way to our yearly average of 52.4 inches of rain. Last year by this date, we’d had 44 inches of rain.

Right now, we are roughly 19 inches down. Another way to look at it is that here we are at mid-November, and we’ve had only half a year’s worth of rain.