Wisconsin Wildfire, Smoke, and Air Quality Map
Wisconsin's serious fire risk sits on the sandy soils of the northwest, where jack pine and barrens country can carry fast-moving fire in dry springs. This page tracks the live layers most relevant to conditions across the state.
Current conditions snapshot
- Wildfires
- 8 active mapped fires attributed to Wisconsin, about 19 acres total. Largest: White Whale (11 acres)
- Red flag warnings
- No Red Flag Warnings in or near the Wisconsin map area.
- Smoke
- Medium smoke over parts of the Wisconsin map area in the latest NOAA analysis (2026-08-31).
- Fire weather
- No elevated SPC fire weather outlook over the Wisconsin map area today.
- Drought
- Parts of the Wisconsin map area are extreme drought (D3) on this week's U.S. Drought Monitor.
- Air quality
- Worst AirNow forecast for a Wisconsin reporting area: Central Waters North, AQI 75 (Moderate).
- River gauges
- No gauges reporting flood conditions in the Wisconsin map area.
Data as of Sep 1, 11:40 AM MDT. Sources: NIFC, NWS, NOAA, EPA AirNow, U.S. Drought Monitor. Map areas are rectangular and overlap neighboring states; open the live map for exact locations.
Fire season and landscape
The core season is April and May, between snowmelt and green-up, the window that produced the 2013 Germann Road Fire near Gordon. Drought summers can keep the Northwoods flammable well past green-up. In several recent summers, Canadian smoke pushed air quality into unhealthy ranges for extended stretches, including much of 2023.
The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest covers well over a million acres of the north, and the sandy barrens between it and the St. Croix valley hold the state's fastest-burning fuels. Central Wisconsin adds pine plantation country on sand, while the south and east are farmland and cities. Spring flooding on the Wisconsin, Chippewa, and Mississippi rivers is the usual water-side hazard.
- A red flag warning over the northwest sand counties means something different than one over dairy country, and the warning layer shows exactly which counties are in it.
- Canadian smoke frequently crosses Lake Superior into Wisconsin overnight, and the air quality forecast layer typically flags the arrival a day ahead.
- Green-up ends the spring fire season abruptly, so the drought layer is the best indicator of whether fire potential lingers into summer.
Official Wisconsin sources
Layer guides for Wisconsin conditions
Informational only. Not an emergency alert service. Data comes from government sources that can lag, drop, or be wrong at any time. In an emergency call 911 and follow your local authorities. Field Risk Systems™ is not affiliated with any government agency. See the terms of use and privacy notice.
Nearby states
The Field Conditions map is published by Field Risk Systems LLC, the developer of Field Risk OS™, the operating system for outdoor programs. See Field Risk OS →