How many of the fires in India between 2016 and 2025, and how much of the area they burned, started with extreme FWI, strong wind, very dry air or after 60 days without rain. Based on the weather on each fire’s start day.
Fire Weather Index (FWI) of 50 or more on the start day: the “extreme” and “very extreme” classes of the European EFFIS scale.
From 2016 to 2025, 17 % of the fires in India started with an extreme FWI (50 or more) and burned 13 % of the area.
Gusts of 50 km/h or more on the start day (a gale, Beaufort force 7).
From 2016 to 2025, 4.0 % of the fires in India started with gusts of 50 km/h or more and burned 2.7 % of the area.
Minimum relative humidity below 15% on the start day.
From 2016 to 2025, 7.3 % of the fires in India started with air humidity below 15% and burned 5.5 % of the area.
At least 60 days in a row without 1 mm of rain before the start day.
From 2016 to 2025, 12 % of the fires in India started after 60 days or more without rain and burned 9.8 % of the area.
Each figure compares two shares: how many fires started in that condition and how much of the area they burned. If the second is larger, those fires were bigger than the rest. A fire can meet several conditions at once. These are statistics about the past, not a forecast.
This is not an official warning.
Check the warnings of your local civil protection or forestry authority.
WorldFires, “What weather do fires in India start in?”, https://worldfires.org/en/country/india/fire-weather (accessed 12 November 2026). Sources: Copernicus Climate Change Service, ERA5 (Open-Meteo.com, CC BY 4.0), WorldFires (FWI, Van Wagner 1987), Copernicus GWIS, NASA FIRMS (VIIRS), ECMWF IFS (Open-Meteo.com, CC BY 4.0).
Sources: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service, ERA5 (Open-Meteo.com, CC BY 4.0) · WorldFires (FWI, Van Wagner 1987) · Copernicus GWIS · NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) · ECMWF IFS (Open-Meteo.com, CC BY 4.0)