Many parts of the country are dealing with rain, snow and possible mudslides, but the concern in Arizona continues to be drought and wildfires.

FULL SECTION: Arizona wildfires

Forestry and Fire Management officials tell ABC15 they expect wildfire season to start early and to be pretty active.

There has already been at least two wildfires in northern Arizona this year. Officials also say we're still in a drought despite the rain we had this past week.

In fact, because there was so much rain last year, this year will be particularly bad. So much vegetation and shrubbery grew because of the rainfall.



Now with the lack of moisture, fire officials know they need to be ready the second a wildfire sparks.

Tiffany Davala with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management says, "It's pretty much drying out all the vegetation across Arizona and we've seen active fire activity in January and in February so we're just gearing up for what's going to be an active fire season."

Governor Doug Ducey also recently announced he wanted to double the budget to help fire wildfires, from $1 million to $2 million. He says some of that money will be used to remove dry and hazardous vegetation.