Wildfire — Pickens Mountains, South Carolina

2016-11-09 to 2016-11-30 · Pickens Mountains, South Carolina

Event narrative

The Pinnacle Mountain Fire burned more than 10,000 acres in the Table Rock/Pinnacle Mountain area throughout the last three weeks of November. At least one day of evacuations was ordered during active fire weather periods.

Wider weather episode

An extended period of abnormally dry weather and drought conditions that began in late winter of 2016, and continued through the year resulted in very dry vegetation across the South Carolina mountains and foothills by mid-autumn. These conditions were exacerbated by an unusually warm summer and fall, when temperatures averaged as much as 5 degrees above normal. In these conditions, a large wildfire ignited and spread during early November, and was not completely contained until a cold front brought much-needed rain to the area at the end of the month.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 667193. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.