Federal forecast suggests a very heavy fire season may be approaching

Federal forecasters say there is above-average potential for significant wildfires all the way through the end of September across a vast swath of the Western U.S.

In the monthly season outlook , green means below-average significant fire potential, white means average, and red means above average.

Starting in July, the northern half of the West is a sea of red. In August and September, Washington, Oregon, Montana, California, Nevada, and Wyoming have above-average potential.

Wildfire smoke is associated with a host of health risks, including dementia and respiratory issues.

"The only thing that could really make this forecast of above-normal fire potential go wrong — which in that case, sometimes we're actually happy to be wrong — would be an unusual northward and northwes