New Mexico’s relatively cool and moist weather so far this spring will dry and warm up in coming weeks, putting fire managers and forecasters on high alert for wildfires before the start of the seasonal monsoon rains this summer. This year’s low snowpack has already put much of the state in drought conditions, and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recently declared a state of emergency and additional actions to prevent fires over the coming weeks. … The rains lessened the acute risks of fire in the Southwest, said Jim Wallmann, a senior forecaster for the National Interagency Coordination Center Predictive Services. But other parts of the county are seeing wildfires “extremely early” in the fire season. … “We’re having to spread our resources over a much greater footprint of the country,” Wallmann said. “That could affect how big a fire gets in California, if we’re stretched and can’t send everything to California while it’s burning; we’ll be on fires burning everywhere else.”

Other wildfire prediction news:

• The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.): Long peak fire season ahead, Sonoma County fire and emergency officials say