Alaska’s million-acre wildfire season, typical in size, had some unusual features

Alaska wildfires burned more than 1 million acres this year, putting the 2025 season at about the average for recent decades.

Alaska fire seasons of more than 1 million acres have become more frequent since about 1990, records show. Since then, 1 million acres is in the “near-normal category,” said Rick Thoman, a scientist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

But it was an unusual season in some ways, Thoman said.

The season started slowly, with only 38 acres burned in early June, a notably cool period, he said. That was despite concerns that a lack of snow in Southcentral Alaska would bring about an early fire season.

The slow start shows the importance of weather patterns to wildfire fire starts, he said. Fires start in