Storms today and Monday provide short-term relief from wildfires

SUFFOLK

Three days of thunderstorms has done much to quiet wildfires in the Dismal Swamp. But the relief will last only as long as the storms. 

"It's really making a huge difference in terms of short-term fire behavior," said Annaleasa Winter, a spokeswoman for the 227-person, multi-departmental team fighting the 4,629-acre fire.

Winter said the top peat layers in the swamp are cooling, but that layer runs several feet deep in many areas.

"We'd need a lot more precipitation over a longer period of time to have a big impact," she said.

The rainfall has meant firefighters have been able to go much deeper inside the fire perimeter to battle the blaze, she said.

Meterologists are keeping a close eye on the storms' effect on the wildfires, too, said Tony Siebers, a meterologist with the National Weather Service in Wakefield. Persistent smoke has made it more difficult to predict weather patterns, he said.

The most rainfall Sunday fell along the Virginia Beach/Chesapeake border, which received as much as 6 inches. Everywhere in Hampton Roads received at least an inch, Siebers said.

Monday's forecast is the same as the past couple days, Siebers said: Storms, and temperatures in the mid-80s.

John Warren, (757) 446-2309, john.warren@pilotonline.com