(MNN) – “Above average, but not as catastrophic as 2023” — this is how M-P-C-A officials describe the outlook for the summer fire season at a briefing on Thursday. Meteorologist Matt Taraldsen says, “At this point last year in 2023, we already had wildfires raging in Canada. Parts of Canada near the Arctic Circle were above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. We’re not seeing that this year, which is [a] good sign….” Taraldsen says last year’s fire season was worsened by an El Niño weather pattern, but “that has now dissipated.”