Introduction to the Wildfires

The wildifires in the Carolinas have followed months of whiplash weather—drought, followed by hurricane-fueled floods, and then more drought. A hillside burns near Tryon, North Carolina, on March 3, 2025. Fire season here typically starts in late March or April.

Scores of wildfires broke out across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia in early March 2025 as strong winds, abnormally dry conditions, and low humidity combined to kindle and spread the flames.

Causes of the Wildfires

The fires followed a year of weather whiplash in the Carolinas, from a flash drought over the summer to extreme hurricane flooding in September, and then back to drought again. Storms on March 5, 2025, helped douse many of the fires still burning, but the Southeast fire season is only beginning.

Wake Forest University wildfire experts Lauren Lowman and Nick Corak put the fires and the region’s dry winter into context. Most of North and South Carolina have been abnormally dry or in moderate drought since at least November 2024. Consistently dry conditions through the winter dried out vegetation, leaving fuel for wildfires.

Unusual Weather Patterns

Hurricanes did flood the region in late summer 2024, but before that, the Carolinas were experiencing a flash drought. Flash droughts are extreme droughts that develop rapidly due to lack of precipitation and dry conditions in the atmosphere. When the atmosphere is dry, it pulls water from the vegetation and soils, causing the surface to dry out.

In August and September, Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene caused extensive flooding in the two states, but the Carolinas received little rainfall in the months that followed, leaving winter 2025 abnormally dry again.

Frequency of Wildfires in the Region

Fires are historically fairly common in the Carolinas. They’re a natural part of the landscape, and many ecosystems have evolved to depend on them. Carnivorous plants such as Venus flytraps and pitcher plants rely on frequent fire activity to remove shrubs and other plants that would grow over them and block the light.

Even some wildlife depend on fire for their habitats and for food from the mix of native plants that regrow after a fire. The expected return periods for wildfires—how often fires have historically burned in a region—range from one to 10 years for the Piedmont and Coastal Plains in the east and 10 to 40 years in the Appalachian Mountains.

Increasing Dryness and Wildfire Risk

Extreme weather events are becoming more common across the US, including in the Southeast and the Carolinas. Increasing temperatures mean the atmosphere can hold more moisture, amplifying how much water it can draw from the land surface and eventually drop in heavier storms.

This can lead to more extreme storms and longer dry periods. In humid regions like the Southeast, where there is an abundance of dense vegetation, periods of warm, dry conditions that dry out that vegetation will increase the risk of wildfire.